I'm Still Here: Trouble Magnet
by Im Old Greg
Summary: The Team are going to LA, leaving Jackson with the four kids. Zach just can't help but get into trouble. It seems attracted to him where ever he goes, and its not even him coming up with the plans this time. He soon finds out Grandpa shouldnt be crossed.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm Still Here – Trouble Magnet **

**_Sunday Night_**

Zach Gibbs stormed through his Grandpa's house, stomping up the stairs and making sure his bag banged on every step as he made his way to the room he and his cousin, Jayden McGee, shared. He wanted to make it as obvious as possible that he was not happy.

Jackson raised his eyebrows at the retreating boy's back, before turning that look on his son to get him to explain. "What's wrong with him? I thought he liked staying with me"

The elderly man had moved into the house down the street last week, and all of them had already worked hard to turn the empty house into a home.

The kids had both done up their rooms, and helped Jack with the rest of the house, and they had even started working on turning one of the downstairs rooms into a shop. Jack had to do something to pass the time after all, and since there were no local shops nearby, it was a perfect business opportunity.

The teenager had only stayed once before, but he seemed to enjoy it, especially when Jack had surprised him the next day by signing him up to a local Ice Hockey team, and took him to out to get kit and to his first Saturday morning practise. So it was a bit of a surprise that he didn't want to stay now.

"He does like staying here. He's just sulking." Gibbs replied, walking into the small kitchen to help him self to the pot of coffee his dad always kept on just for him.

"What have you done?" The elderly man looked at him, sitting down on the chair opposite him.

"What have I done?" The agent asked incredulously.

"You didn't do something Jethro?" At least he had started calling him Jethro now, Gibbs thought. But the man was still blaming him for his son's teenage strop.

"No, I didn't. I told him that he couldn't come to LA with me, we argued, I spanked him" Gibbs heard the teenager come down the stairs now, walking slowly rather than running like he normally did.

Zach, along with his two cousins Jayden and Kate McGee, and his girlfriend Sarah McGee, were all going to be spending the week here while Gibbs, Tim and Abby went over to NCIS Los Angeles for a case. Tony and Ziva had already requested an extra week's holiday leave so they could fly over to Paris where it all started for them.

"Hello Zach" Jack smiled warmly to his grandson when he came into view of the kitchen. He hadn't noticed before, well he hadn't had the chance _to _notice that the teen's eyes were slightly puffy from crying.

"…Hey grandpa" The blond smiled back weakly, opting to go for the 'ignore dad' approach. He had tried shouting and being angry, which had just ended up with him getting a sore ass. So maybe getting his dad to feel as sorry for him as he did for himself at the moment was the key.

"You finished sulking now then have you?" Gibbs asked snippily. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was sulking, and he had no intention of letting his son act that way. He knew the teen would snap out of feeling sorry for him self if he was challenged on it.

"I am not sulking" He declared adamantly, all the anger he had when he stormed up the stairs before coming back to him. "God, you are such a ….."

Thankfully for Zach's sake, the front door opened just in time and the whirlwind that was Abby and six-year-old Kate came into the kitchen, while Tim, Sarah and Jayden followed more sedately behind, cutting the teenager off from whatever insult he had to call his dad.

"Grandpa Jack!" Kate ran over to him, hugging him tightly, before babbling on about their week together "Mommy and Daddy said we are going to have a lot of fun this week…"

The young girl was clearly excited about week, and as were Jayden and Sarah. The only one who wasn't looking forward to it was Zach. The kids went upstairs to put their bags in their room, none of them having stayed in there yet except for Zach, and came back downstairs to say goodbye to the agents and forensic scientist.

The McGee's went into the living room to give the father and son some privacy, and Jack was staring into his cup of tea to give the illusion that he wasn't listening in. They both didn't mind Jack listening in anyway, because on Zach's half, he wasn't saying an awful lot.

"I want you to be good this week, got it son?" Gibbs looked down at his son. The boy had been more behaved since the 'talk' they had had after the wedding, but it had only been two weeks and his bad attitude was already seeping back in.

"Sure" Zach scowled.

"I mean it Zacharriah…" The man warned, wondering why the boy was so bothered about not being able to go to LA. "You act up for your grandpa; you will be in a world of hurt when I get back"

The scowl deepened and the teen spoke before he was able to stop himself "Whatever"

_Thwack! _Gibbs cuffed him round the back of the head "Do you want me to improve your attitude for the second time today? I can make some time before I leave"

"No dad" Zach shook his head.

"Good choice. I've got to go now, so I'll see you on Friday son" Gibbs pulled the boy in for a hug, even if the boy was resisting. He tried to not let it bother him, but it did. He was going away for nearly a week, and he was going off on bad terms with his son. He figured the boy would come around though; he would phone him when he landed, and everything would be alright again.

"See you" The teen took a step back, dodging his dad when the man tried to ruffle his hair.

"Bye champ" Gibbs said, his face looking hurt before he shook it off. But he couldn't do anything else, and he would probably make it even worse if he tried. He sighed once, before going to fetch Abby and Tim to drive to the airport.

The blond leant on the side of the kitchen counter, feeling slightly guilty for hurting his dad's feelings. But the man was leaving him, not the other way around. He had never been away from his dad for so long since he had known him, and even when he had stayed out, his dad was always in DC, not on the other side of the country. He would never say it out loud, but he didn't want his dad to be that far away from him, he had just gotten accustomed to the man always being around. It would be weird.

Jackson never saw the hurt that was in his grandson's eyes, all he saw was a bratty little kid in need of some unwanted attention. He turned on the boy immediately after the front door shut, gripping his ear firmly and dragging him over to the front door.

"Go and say good bye to your father properly"

"No"

He winced as Jack turned him around and swatted him twice on his already sore backside. He could be certain after those two swats, that the man hadn't lost any of his touch since Jethro had been a teenager.

"Don't be a brat Zacharriah." Jack growled at him, for the first time ever he was beginning to lose his patience with his grandson.

"Okay, fine" He rubbed his ear once it was let go, and made his way through the front door to stop his dad before he got into the car.

Gibbs gave Abby and Tim a silent signal to get in the car, and walked to meet his son near the gate, looking at him until the teen spoke.

"You sure I can't come with you dad? Grandpa has got a hand almost as hard as yours" He smiled awkwardly, showing his dad he was there to make peace.

Gibbs inwardly smiled, grateful that Jack had talked to the boy. "I wish you could son. But like I said earlier, I'm there to work and not on a vacation. You wouldn't have any fun with me."

"But I wouldn't be in school. That's fun enough. I'll be good, I promise" Zach gave him the puppy dog eyes.

Gibbs sighed, pulling his son in for the hug that he had been denied earlier "My answer's still no. And you can be good here. I'll miss you champ"

"But… I don't want you to go" He said softly, his voice slightly muffled by the coat. Even though he was older, and it wasn't the same circumstances, Zach reminded him so much of Kelly when he left for deployment, that it broke his heart he was doing the same to his son now.

"I'll be back before you know it" Gibbs rubbed his back, kissing the top of the blond hair.

"Will you bring me back a present?" He asked hopefully.

Gibbs chuckled, squeezing his son close to him before letting go off him. "I promise. As long as you behave, deal?"

"When do I ever not behave?" He grinned.

The elder man gave him a look that said 'do you really want to go there' before replying "Just watch yourself. Grandpa's not as lenient as I am"

"You? Lenient?" Zach snorted "I don't think those two words can go in the same sentence!"

The agent gently head slapped him "I mean it Zach. Just because I'm not around doesn't mean you don't have to listen to my rules. You cause any trouble and ….."

"Yea I know. I'll regret it."

"Good. I love you Zach, and I'll ring you after school tomorrow."

"Love you too dad"

* * *

><p>They had all had tea together, Jackson's Sunday roast, and the three oldest kids went off upstairs to the boy's room to talk about their plans for the upcoming week, while Kate stayed downstairs and forced Jack to play with her monster high dolls.<p>

"Aw…" Sarah was reading a message on her phone "Amelia's got spare tickets to go see David Guetta tomorrow night. She's asking if you and I want to go."

The boy's had gotten the bunk beds like Zach had wanted, and the three of them were sitting on the top bunk, Sarah and Zach leaning down at the top, while Jayden sat down at the bottom with his legs hanging over the edge. Zach had thought the room was even better when his grandpa had brought him Philadelphia Penguins, his new found love, black bed sheets.

"Ovbs I want to go. But we can't, it's a school night and I doubt we're going to be allowed to stay out that late. Do you honestly think we would be allowed to go?" Zach said.

"I don't see why not. Grandpa Jack is a softie compared to Uncle Gibbs, I don't see why he wouldn't let us go" Sarah had her heart set on going since she read that text, she loved David Guetta and she knew her boyfriend did too. She was determined they would both be part of the crowd tomorrow night.

"Yeah…" Zach thought back to those few swats he had had before. "I wouldn't be so sure on that you know."

"Jared's allowed to go. And I bet Vance is a tough nut to crack. We could ask…."

"And Jared also brings home straight A's and never gets in the slightest bit of trouble. He told me his parents are only letting him because he deserves a night off for all his hard work. What's the point asking when we know its going to be a no" The blond teen even surprised him self when he was the voice of reason.

"Since when does Zach Gibbs listen to what he's told?" What was even more surprising was that Sarah was the one trying to talk him into it. Jayden couldn't help but think he had stepped into a parallel world. "If we know it's going to be a definite no, what about rule eighteen?"

"_If you don't ask, the answer won't be no_. I don't get what that has to do with anything Sar, because even if we say we are going out, we will be very late back for curfew"

The brunette shook her head. He had just basically said the plan that would get them in less trouble, and they would still be able to go to concert. _Boys. _"And then we will only get in trouble for being late back. We won't get in trouble for sneaking off; something which I bet your dad would go mental if he caught you doing again"

"Oh…." A grin started to spread across Zach's face, and before he knew it he was rolling over to straddle his girlfriend, both of them laughing.

"You bad girl" He clicked his tongue once and lent down to kiss her "I like it"

"I can tell."

"I'm still in the room guys!" Jayden shouted behind them, bringing the teens' attention back to where they actually were.

Zach kissed his girl once more, before reluctantly rolling over and managing to land on his feet on the floor below the bed. "What's the plan then? Since you seem to be the one with all the ideas tonight Sar"

Sarah pursed her lips, thinking for a minute "We ask Grandpa Jack if we can go out tomorrow night on a double date with Jared and Amelia, that way we aren't lying, because we are going out on a date. And we go to the concert, and just say we lost track of time or something when we get back"

"I think its going to have to be 'or something'." Jayden said "He's going to see right through you both if you say you lost track of time. Say the car broke down or something and you had no signal, that way you can both turn your phones off too."

"I like the way you both are thinking tonight."

Jayden held his hand up "Just don't kiss me like you did Sarah, and we won't have a problem"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This was a very quick update. But I had already written most of this out when I was stuck on other stories. I just had to change a few details. And I can say there will be a lot more than just going to a concert, that is just the tip of the iceberg. **

**Anyway, just figured I should mention this now, if a certain someone is reading it, that Sarah will not get spanked so you can chill out. (That's not meant to sound as bitchy as it's written either, sorry)**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Monday**_

"What are you up to Zach?" Jackson came into the kitchen, finding his oldest grandson working away at the kitchen table.

"Homework" The blond replied, not tearing his eyes away from the book as he chewed on the end of his pen.

He had been at it for at least half an hour now, something he was quite proud of himself for, being able to stick at a boring task for so long. The other three had been here too, but they finished quicker because the older two were gifted academically, and Kate, well how hard could colouring in be anyway.

"Either your dad is lying, or you've turned over a new leaf." The elder man sat down opposite him. "Because he told me that trying to get you to do your homework was like pulling teeth."

"Well…." Zach put his pen down; deciding he would be as honest as he possibly could with his grandpa. "I was kind of hoping that if I did my homework, you would let me take Sarah out tonight"

"Where?"

"Just on a double date with Jared and Amelia." It was all hundred percent true.

He really needed Sarah in on his schemes more often he realised; she was a genius at planning things. And he was completely sure that tonight he would actually get away with having some fun.

"I don't see why you can't do. Just as long as you are both back for curfew, okay?" Jack thought it would do the teens some good to have a bit of fun while there guardians were away, just as long as they didn't hurt themselves.

"Who's mine or Sarah's? Because mine is nine, and Sarah's is ten."

"You can be back at ten, _if _you get your homework done before you leave" The man said.

"I will do." Zach grinned brightly. He knew he was never going to make curfew, but at least they now had an hour knocked off their late time.

"Just don't get into any trouble, behave yourselves and have a good time" Jack stood up, ruffling the back of the blond head.

He was slightly more considerate than Jethro, because he usually just messed the top of his spiked hair up. Zach was sure that his dad did it on purpose though; he knew how much time his son spent on his hair and considered it funny.

"Thanks Grandpa."

* * *

><p>The concert was amazing for the four teenagers. Their throats were now slightly raspy from their shouting, but it was completely worth it. For Zach and Sarah, it was the break from all the rules their guardians put on them and it was very freeing for the pair.<p>

"Hey, look at my top!" The blond boy pushed his way through the crowds of people leaving the stadium, showing the new t-shirt he had just brought to his friends and girlfriend.

"_I just wanna make you sweat." _Sarah read, and gave the teen a well deserved head slap "Where are you going to say you got that from?"

"Oh…. Yea, I'll hide it and just make out I've had it ages" He shrugged, taking his phone out of his pocket by habit, before he realised that it was turned off. "Reckon grandpa's going to go sick when we go back late?"

The brunette shook her head "Nah. He's a kitty cat; I doubt he could get mad"

Zach looked at her sceptically. "Yea, I really wouldn't think that if I were you. He smacked me yesterday."

"Yea, but I bet you were being cheeky or something. It was probably his last resort." Sarah didn't seem to really believe him that Jack was not a push over.

And Zach didn't seem to want to sway her of that notion. She seemed a lot more carefree when she wasn't worried about getting into trouble, and he liked it.

"I suppose so. And he didn't hit as hard as dad does."

"Exactly." Sarah climbed in the back of Jared's car behind him. "We'll just go home, tell our excuse and act really apologetic. He will be cool with it."

"You know Sar… I _really _like this side of you."

* * *

><p>The second they were through the door they were hounded by an irate Jackson, making the two teens panic, and hopefully wiping the notion out of Sarah's head that he was a kitten compared to the Tiger that was Gibbs.<p>

"Where have you both been? It's nearly midnight! You are both two hours late! Just wait till I tell your father about this young man, I know for a fact he wouldn't tolerate this. And you young lady, I'll be telling your brother too."

The blond gulped at that. LJ Gibbs hated tardiness; it could possibly be the ninth deadly sins. (Eight being lying to him) He was pretty sure he would be in for it when his dad got back, especially because he knew he would end up having to tell him where he had been. It didn't even occur to him that there was a plan still to execute, until Sarah started it.

"Sorry Grandpa" She smiled apologetically, _damn she's good. _"But Jared's car broke down, we had to wait for ages for the motor guy to come and help."

"And you couldn't have rung me?" Jack seemed to calm down a bit, but he still looked slightly doubtful about their tale.

"We would have gramps, but Sarah forgot her phone and my battery died. We didn't know your number so we couldn't borrow a phone" Zach lied smoothly.

The elderly man accepted their answer quicker than the teens thought possible "Sorry, I thought you were both just playing silly beggars. But next time you go out, I want your phones charged before you leave the house, and actually take them with you okay? I didn't know where either of you were and I was starting to worry"

"Sorry" Zach felt slightly guilty at that, but he soon pushed it away for the rush of excitement he got for getting away with something. It wasn't a big deal, but the fact he hadn't gotten away with a single thing since living with his dad made it so. "And don't worry about me not charging my phone again; I haven't updated my status in hours, I need to do it now."

"I'm sure you could have coped a few hours without going on Facebook" Jack said dryly, following the teenagers up the stairs.

"_I _could of yea. But could the world have coped not knowing what I was up to?" He smirked.

The elderly man shook his head in a way that reminded Zach a lot of his dad. "Go to bed son."

"Night Sar, night granpda" He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and the man a quick hug before sneaking into his bedroom as quietly as possible so he didn't wake up Jayden.

"Zach…" He heard a voice whisper in the dark. He couldn't have been as quiet as he thought he was.

"Yea?" He stripped down to his boxers, too lazy to find pyjamas and climbed into the top bunk.

"Did you get away with it?"

"Yea, Yea we did." Zach smiled in the dark, still unable to believe his good luck. Maybe Grandpa Jack just wasn't as all seeing as his dad, or he had lost it in his old age because he was sure his dad would have went nuts if he was at home.

"Really? Was it good?" The pre-teen was climbing up onto the top bunk too, and Zach sat up to make room for him.

"It was amazing Jay. We were right at the front; well me and Sarah were because Jared was too scared to push through the crowd." The concert was still buzzing through the blond's mind.

"You didn't get in any trouble at _all?" _

"That was the best part" He grinned "Yea gramps was pissed when we first got in, but then we told him about the car and he was fine."

"Oh…. Do you think that I could get away with going somewhere tomorrow then?" The twelve-year-old was biting his lip nervously.

"What's got into everyone this week? First Sarah want to go to a concert, now you want to sneak out." Zach loved this side to his family. It made him feel like he wasn't the only one who got into trouble, and also gave him someone to have fun with, not that they weren't fun normally.

"… Do you think I could though?"

"Yea, don't see why not. Where'd you want to go?"

"There's … well…." Jay was clearly embarrassed about what he had to say.

"You can tell me mate, I won't laugh" He promised.

He took a breathe, before explaining to his cousin "There's this girl I've been talking to on the internet. And she's my age, and she lives in Maryland. But she's got a school trip to the Smithsonian, and she wanted me to meet her"

"A girl huh?" Zach tried his hardest not to smile, even though it was dark. But he didn't want his cousin to think he was laughing at him, he just found it cute that the younger boy had a crush.

"Yea, her names Holly and she's my age. But this is the only chance I'll get to meet her, because my mom and dad would never let me go to Maryland, or meet someone off the internet"

"I don't see why grandpa would even have a problem with that. He'll probably even give you a lift, and we'll hang around for you so we know it's not a internet killer"

"She's not an internet killer" Jay defended her "And it's in school time. I was thinking about phoning in sick, and getting the bus there"

The blond shook his head. His cousin had come up with a great excuse tonight, but now he had just let himself down. Phoning up sick in your parents voice was the worst plan ever when your voice hadn't broke, and you were rubbish at impressions.

"I'm not letting you go meet some girl of the internet on your own" They could be anyone for all he knew, and he wasn't going to let his nephew take that risk. "I'll go with you. We can ask Sar too"

"Really? Thanks Zach" Jay sounded happy with that idea. "But aren't you risking it a bit much? You got away with it tonight, but we might not tomorrow."

"You know what they say…" Zach shrugged. He had a new sense of freedom now that he wasn't caught, and he felt a bit cocky in his abilities "In for a penny, in for a pound"

They looked over to the door when they heard it creak open, and Sarah was sneaking her way into the room. "You guys still awake?"

Zach wondered where she had gotten, for lack of a better term, balls. She wouldn't risk even going near Zach's bedroom door at home in case Gibbs shouted at them, but here she just didn't care. It wasn't that big of a deal, but the teen was pretty sure Jack wouldn't want her sneaking into the boy's room in the middle of the night.

"Yea…" They whispered back and she was climbing on the bunk and slipping under the sheets next to Zach, resting her head on his chest and got comfy.

"What you both talking about?"

"Tomorrow"

"Why? What's happening tomorrow?" She wondered.

"We, and that's you too if you're not chicken, are skipping to go to …. Wait for …." Zach built it up, finding it funny they were skiving school to go to a museum "The Smithsonian!"

"I'm not risking getting into trouble to spend a day at the museum" The brunette rolled her eyes. That was the stupidest thing ever in her opinion.

"And that's why, you are a chicken." He wrapped an arm around her.

"I'm not a chicken, I'm just not stupid. And why the heck do you want to go there anyway?"

"Jay's going to meet a girl. We are going with him. And, I was thinking we could get the Jay's girlfriend to ditch her class at the museum and come to the Zoo with us. I hear they got pandas there, I've never seen a panda"

"She's not my girlfriend" The boy blushed embarrassed, but they didn't seem to acknowledge him.

"I'm in then. I'll send Amelia a text too, you send Jared and Tom one. Tell Tom to bring his girlfriend too, we'll make it a quadruple date"

"It won't be a quadruple date, because Holly is not my girlfriend. She's just a friend"

Again they ignored him.

"I'll text the afro, but he'll probably be too chicken to go. Tom will be up for it though" The afro was one of the many nicknames that Tom and Zach had for Jared Vance.

"I wish Tim, Abby and Gibbs would go away more often so we could stay with Grandpa" Sarah said through a yawn "It's going to be a lot of fun this week"

"Same" Zach replied, although he didn't mean it.

Of course he loved staying with his grandpa, and his cousins staying here too while they got up to mischief together, but he was started to miss his dad quite a bit. He missed not going down the basement in the evening and being in his dads company, and mostly he missed his dad tucking him in at night.

But right now, he had his beautiful girlfriend lying on him, so he wasn't complaining. She clearly had no intention of moving, and Zach didn't want to get caught in bed with just her because it would look extremely dodgy. So he got Jayden to bring his pillows and blankets up on the top bunk, and the sandy-brown haired boy got comfy down the bottom end of the bed, while the two teenagers were at the top end. It wasn't long before the boy was fast asleep, leaving the two teenagers to talk.

"You know we are going to get caught yea?" Zach asked Sarah, Once again wondering why he was the one to mention it, usually it was the other way around.

"I know" Sarah shrugged "And like you've said before, what's life without a little risk?"

Zach nodded "True. But since when have you not cared about the consequences?"

"Since Tim is in LA for a week." She answered "A girl has to have fun every once in a while, and this is the week that doesn't have consequences, we might as well use it to our advantage"

"What about when they come back?"

"Then we will deal with it then. But for now, we'll have fun"

Zach really wasn't as sure about this as she was. He didn't think that Jackson was the kitten Sarah made him out to be, and he knew come tomorrow night she will have figured that out. And he wasn't too scared about the consequences anyway, sure he didn't want to be in trouble, but he would just think about them when the time came to pay the pied piper.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN:_ Thanks for your reviews. And yes, the wedding one is finished with, sorry if i didnt make it clear. And yes you are right, it doesnt seem far that Sarah isnt in trouble. And so I've only slightly changed that part as i have written the story, because it works out better this way and so what i said in CH1 ignore the bit about Sarah. Anyways, thanks for reviewing.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Tuesday Daytime **_

"KIDS! WAKE UP!"

Zach, Sarah and Jayden were brought to awareness early Tuesday morning by the loud voice. Zach jumped up to his feet, banging his head on the ceiling, Sarah fell out of the bed because she was still leaning on her boyfriend when he shot up, and Jayden was disoriented and tried to climb out of bed not realising he was in a bunk bed and landed in a tangle on the floor with Sarah on the blankets.

"OW! What the fuck Grandpa!" Zach rubbed the back of his head, glaring at his grandpa. He wasn't a morning person, and his grandpa hadn't even given him any time to adjust to it, so technically it was his own fault that he had sworn at him.

Sarah and Jayden picked themselves up of the floor, looking with wide-eyed horror as Jackson's eyes narrowed at the boy on the bed. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea after all to skip school, and Sarah was starting to regret staying in the boy's room last night.

"Excuse me Zacharriah?" Jack looked deadly at the minute, nothing like the kindly old man they were used to. And Zach was just grateful that he was still standing on the bunk bed and out of reach of his grandfather for the time being.

"That is not my fault! How can you expect me to not swear when you've just walked in here screaming and made me bang my head on the ceiling?" His hair was sticking up wildly because he hadn't washed the gel out of it before he went to bed last night, and it gave him more of a crazed look as he shouted back at the elderly man.

"Come here" He pointed to the spot on the floor in front of him.

Zach shook his head, he was going to stay exactly were he was. It wasn't his fault that he had been rudely awakened, so he wasn't going to get disciplined like some naughty child in front of his girlfriend.

Thankfully, Jack was not like his dad in this aspect. Where his dad would have expected immediate compliance, he was pretty sure his grandpa did too, but Jack could see that it wasn't happening and instead of hounding him until he did, he turned to the other two in the room.

"What are you doing in here Sarah? I thought we made it perfectly clear that you and Zach are not to be in each others bedrooms" He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Uh…" Sarah smiled awkwardly. "We were just talking, all three of us, and then we feel asleep. And before you know it, you're waking us up. Sorry."

"That's not what I asked. I wanted to know why you were in here in the first place." Jack actually seemed calm with Sarah; it was just his eldest grandson he kept shooting glares at.

"It's not like we were going to do anything Gramps! For the record, I wouldn't do it while all of you lot were in the same house, especially if Jayden was in the room! We can control ourselves you know, we are not like dogs in heat" Zach still hadn't woken up properly. That was the only explanation they could come up with for why he was still arguing when he was already in trouble. But then again, he had never been very bright when it came to self preservation.

"Sarah, Jayden, go get ready for school." Jackson dismissed them.

Sarah walked out of the room quickly, shooting her boyfriend a look which said 'shut up before you get into more trouble'. And Jayden quickly grabbed his uniform and left, opting to get changed in the bathroom than have to walk back in here.

"Come here now young man" Jack told him again, and the blond shook his head. His grandpa looked pissed and he didnt want to go near him.

"I won't ask you again Zacharriah. Don't make me climb up there, becuase I swear I will, and you will be one sorry little boy"

Zach thought it wise to not let it get that for and sat down on the edge of the bed, reluctantly sliding onto the floor and shuffling over to the spot the man wass pointing at. The elderly man took a step towards him, gripping his forearm, spinning him around and planting half a dozen solid smacks to his behind before pulling him back around to face him.

"I don't know if it's just that you've woken up on the wrong side of the bed, but I will not have that language in my house. And when I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it straight away, not get cocky with me." Jack's voice was the strictest Zach had heard, and he was sure the man was quickly coming to his limits.

"Consider this the only warning you'll get, because I don't do warnings like your dad. Next time you act up, you will find yourself on the end of my belt, got it?"

"Yes sir" Zach nodded.

So maybe that was what his dad had meant by his grandpa not being as lenient as him. His dad would never use a belt on him for something like this, and he always gave him three warnings. They really shouldn't be trying anything today, the teen realised, Jack would slaughter them all if he found out. But the ball was already rolling, and he wasn't going to back out now.

"Good. I don't like punishing you Zach, but if you give me reason to and I will. Just because your dad is away, it doesn't mean that you have no rules" He warned him, hoping he would take the warning and pass it onto the other kids.

"I never thought that anyway" It wasn't him that thought Jackson was a softy, it was Sarah. He was just along for the ride.

"You sure son? Because it seems to me you do. I know full well that you and Sarah wouldn't dare being in the same room if your father was around, so don't take me for a fool" He told him before leaving the room to fix breakfast for the four of them.

The blond sighed. Right now as far as there plan for the day went, they were all going to be busted within ten minutes. It would be too obvious when the whole group of friends went missing for a day, even more obvious if they phoned up pretending to be their parents. The only way they could get away with it, was if they didn't do it at all, which wouldn't really be getting away with it. Unless, he got his Whiz kid cousin to hack the school servers and mark them all present on the register.

"I'm a genius" Zach spoke to himself, proud of what he'd thought of. They would get away with this for sure, and it would be Kids 2, Grandpa 0. He felt slightly guilty treating his grandpa like this after he thought of it like that, the man only did the best he could for them, and they were repaying him by acting like a bunch brats. He quickly forgot about that though when he realised this may be the only time his dad was away, he would never get away with anything with him.

* * *

><p>"And….. done" Jayden shut the laptop closed on his lap, placing it gently on the bed besides him. "As soon as the teachers send the registers off to the main office, it will change all our absent marks to present."<p>

"It's so great having a brain for a cousin. You know, me and you should do this more often" Zach grinned, throwing a change of clothes into his school bag and hoisting it over his shoulder.

"I don't think so. I actually like going to school. I'm only doing this so I can meet Holly" Jay picked up his own bag and followed the teenager down the stairs.

"Nerd" The blond scoffed.

"Jock" The pre-teen shot back.

"Boys! Hurry up, your lift is here" They heard Jackson shout and walked double-time down the steps, grabbing Sarah on their way out the front door, waving goodbye to the elderly man and six-year-old before cramming into the backseat of Tom's car.

Tom grinned, looking over his shoulder at Jayden "So Jay kid, who's your girlfriend?"

"For the millionth time, Holly is not my girlfriend. She is just a friend." The boy glared at his cousin for telling his friend that.

"Jayden and Holly sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" The two best friends sung teasingly "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Jayden with a baby carriage"

* * *

><p>"… Heard the boys got into a bit of trouble with the car last night" Gibbs spoke to Vance on the large monitor in NCIS LA head quarters. They had just finished talking about their undercover operation that was taking place this week, and now Gibbs was trying to subtly to hear more news about his son, other than what Jackson had said.<p>

"They did?" Vance frowned. "I never heard anything about it"

The silver haired man growled lowly, knowing straight away that his son lied "That little brat. My son seems to think that you went to help them when Jared's car broke down"

G Callen was watching the exchange interestedly. He had gone for coffee with the elder man straight away when he landed in LA to catch up on the last few years of each others lives. Like a proud father showing of his newborn baby, Gibbs hadn't wasted anytime in telling him he had a son and showing his friend a picture of the blond teen that was spitting image of him. Now he just seemed like an annoyed dad thinking of screaming at his errant child, making G glad he didn't have children.

"Let me guess. He didn't tell you that Sarah and him went to a concert with Jared and Amelia?"

Gibbs shook his head, watching as Vance's secretary came onto the screen whispering something to the man. Vance tried to dismiss her so he could finish his video talk with Gibbs, but she insisted on telling him what she had to say, and he watched as the dark mans face grew annoyed.

"Thank you, tell Jackie I'll handle it when I get home" He dismissed her, turned back around to face the screen and commenting dryly. "It seems Gibbs, that when the cat is away, the mice will play"

The silver-haired agent shut his eyes, calming his anger. He didn't know what it was that Vance was on about, but he knew he would be angrier than he was at the moment with his son for lying to his grandfather. "What has he done?"

Callen was still amused, as was Sam who had joined them, and Hetty was sipping a cup of tea and giving a disapproving snort as she heard about the tales of the young Gibbs. While Tim and Abby were in another part of the building, blissfully unaware of everything that was going on back in DC.

"I can't say for definite that Zach's involved, I'll let you be the judge. But apparently Jared and his group of friends have gone awol from school today. And managed to hack into the school server to change the registers"

"Oh, he is definitely involved." He growled. There was no doubt in his mind that his son wasn't the ring leader of the little group, and the whole idea was his alone. He may have felt guilty for thinking so low of his son, but he knew the boy too well, and knew that if the teenager got away with one thing, he would push his luck and get more daring. Well this was the end of the line for Zacharriah Gibbs.

He pulled his ringing phone out of his pocket, seeing the schools ID on it and watched Vance give the signal to cut the video feed before answering it. Oh, he was going to kill his son when he got back to DC.

* * *

><p>"Can we go and see the pandas first?" Zach asked excitedly as they walked through the park gates. Considering they were with two twelve-year-olds, Zach was the one who had the most child like excitement.<p>

"They are all the way on the over side of the zoo" Jared told him, reading the map.

"Oh…" The blond looked slightly disappointed, before he took Sarah's hand and was running in the direction the signs were pointing, calling over his shoulder "Last couple there is buying the ice cream!"

Then the race was on. Jayden and Holly were quickly running up to try and catch the older two teens, with Jared and Amelia, after the boy with an afro shaking his head, right behind them. Tom stayed where he was for a minute, giving them a head start and stopping his girlfriend from running with them.

"Come on Tom, I don't want to be the one buying" Sophie tugged on his arm.

"Don't worry, I'll buy them. I don't mind" Tom took hold of her hand and slowly strolled in the direction the others had run.

"Why? We could easily catch them up"

"Because then I wouldn't get to just spend time with just me and you" The brunet boy gave her a fantastic smile, and she was left unaware that that wasn't the full reason.

Tom was a good friend, and he knew that if any of the others, besides Amelia because they both had credit cards from their parents, would be left penniless if they were the ones who had to buy the ice cream. And he had learnt that they didn't like charity so he couldn't just offer. So instead he would just take the friendly teasing, and pretend he lost.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Tuesday Daytime **_

"No, no. Zach and Sarah told me that the car broke down." Jackson spoke down the phone, his inner fury starting to come alive.

"_Hate to tell you this dad, but they lied. And the school told me that the three of them, Zach, Sarah and Jayden, haven't turned up. You are going to have to round them up. Scott, Tom's dad, said he would call you if he found them. And Leon is on the hunt too" _

"Any idea where they will be?" Jacks grip tightened on the receiver. He couldn't believe he had been played by a bunch of kids, his grandchildren no less. He felt like such a fool. Had he really gotten so old that he couldn't see through lies anymore, or know when they were up to no good? He was going to throttle them when he got his hands on them.

"_Not a clue, their phones are all turned off. Zacharriah is going to be one sorry boy when I get my hands on him. Call me when you've found him, I want to have a word with him." _

"They are all going to be sorry when I see them" The elderly man said darkly "I will. Bye Jethro"

He hung up the phone, and donned his coat. He didn't have the slightest idea where the wayward teenagers would go. DC was a huge place, and they could be anywhere. The best thing he could do now was go for a cup of tea to calm himself down, and wait for them to turn their phones back on.

* * *

><p>"Aw, look at them both together." Sarah cooed to her boyfriend, walking hand in hand through the zoo together and watching the two twelve-year-olds in front of them, nervously flirting with each other.<p>

"I'm proud of him" Zach wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "When he told me he met someone on one of his geek websites, I was… well… expecting a geek. But she's quite the stunner, and she didn't even think twice about sneaking off from her school trip. That's my kind of girl"

"She is twelve-years-old, I doubt she has even hit puberty yet, how can she be a stunner?" The brunette girl looked up at him.

"You know what I mean Sar. She's got style, she's not fat and she doesn't have glasses." The teenager wasn't attracted to the girl for one second, she was far too young, but he thought his young cousin had done well with his choice in girls.

"Oh, so that's the only qualities you need to be a stunner. Thanks for the huge ego boost Zacharriah" Sarah glared sharply up at him.

Zach chalked it up that it was Sarah's time of the month, that was why she was being so moody with him with this conversation. He never dared say that out loud though; it would be suicide to do such a thing when his girlfriend had a fiery red-head's temper.

"No! I don't mean that. Just…" He pulled her closer to him; it was about time for flattery "You know that I don't think that. You are smart, funny, you've got an inner bad girl, which by the way _really _turns me on, and you are the most caring person I know. You are so much more that just another pretty face, I love you Sar"

The girl's mood changed quickly, and she was blushing, completely happy once again, before letting her boyfriend kiss her delicately. Zach breathed a sigh of relief; he knew how ugly things could turn when a girl was in a temper. Just ask his dad, he told him that one of his wives had run after him with a golf club.

"I love you too sweet potato" Tom put on a high pitched voice, interrupted the couple.

Zach punched him in the arm, taking Sarah's hand once again and walking in a line with Tom and Sophie, with Jared and Amelia right behind them, Amelia trying to get her boyfriend to stop worrying.

"Shut up mate" The blond mock-scowled.

"Nope, but I could if I wanted to. If only the afro _could_ shut up whining like a bitch because he thinks our parents are going to find out" The brunet boy called loudly, hinting at Jared.

Zach snorted "As if they are going to find out, we got it all covered."

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you"

They heard a familiar male voice from behind Jared and Amelia, and all of them spun around to face them, except for Jayden who was currently joking around with Holly and watching the otters play.

They all paled.

* * *

><p>It was useless. As much as Leon Vance wanted, and <em>needed<em>, to get through his large stack of paper work, he just couldn't concentrate long enough to do so. His mind kept wondering back to where his son and friends had disappeared to.

He shut the folder with a sigh. It wasn't like he was going to be able to get anything done until he knew where his boy was. So he put his years as an NCIS Special Agent to work at finding him and his group of delinquent friends.

He just hoped that he calmed down a bit before he found them. Because right now he felt like putting the young Gibbs over his knee, like the boy's father, he knew he was the ringleader for the group.

But he also knew that his son and the other teens were just as bad for going along with his schemes. He had warned his son countless times to not get involved, but he still did.

He liked Zach, he did, and he knew the kid was good hearted. He just wished that he wouldn't get his son and the rest of the small group involved. But the teenager was not afraid of authority, and liked to do his own thing.

"Like Father like son" Leon smirked dryly to himself, getting to work on finding the teenagers.

* * *

><p>"Oh sh…"<p>

"Don't even finish that sentence of Zacharriah, because I swear I am these close to Gibbs slapping you" Leon held his fingers less then a centimetre apart.

Zach gulped, as did the rest of the teens, including Jayden who had made his way over to them now. He had never heard Jared's dad so angry before now, and especially never threatening to Gibbs slap him.

"Gotta be a Gibbs, to Gibbs slap" But the teen was in front of his friends, it was second nature for him to show off.

"Are you trying to make this worse for yourself?" Leon took a step towards him. "Your father already knows what you have been up to today, and last night. And I can tell you know, that he is far from happy"

"I didn't exactly expect my dad to be over the moon when he found out" He portrayed outward calm, but on the inside he was wincing at what he was saying and that his dad already knew.

"I'm sure after I tell your dad; you can add cheekiness and rudeness to your long list of misdeeds for the week."

"Shut up Zach." Tom hissed at him, elbowing him in the chest before he could open his mouth again.

Leon eyed the blond teenager, waiting for his to speak again, but thankfully he took his friends advice. He turned on the rest of the group, glad to note that his son was hanging his head in shame of his behaviour. At least he knew it wouldn't be difficult to get through to him.

"All of you, ring your parents, and tell them that we are heading back to the school for the talk with your principle. We are going to walk back to the cars, and you will drive back to the school and wait for all your parents to meet you there."

"Any point me ringing my dad? He's in LA, it will be pretty hard for him to meet us at the school" Zach smirked, he had grown up making wise comments to adults, so it was hard to stop now, even though he knew he should.

Leon gritted his teeth; he had had enough of the cocky teenager. He nodded to the others, telling them to start walking to the car and ring their parents, he knew Sarah was smart enough to ring up Jackson, and he gave a silent message to his son to tell him that they would both be having a 'talk' tonight.

"You think you are funny don't you?" The dark man willed himself to not lose his temper. He honestly didn't think Gibbs would appreciate it if he murdered his only son.

"A bit yea" Zach shrugged, trying to act cool but feeling nervous now that he was on his own.

"I don't. What I think, is that you are in bad need of some attention from your father's hand. Which I know you are going to get the second he gets home. So if I were you, I would quit digging my hole deeper" He warned.

_Damn! _Zach thought. He was in so much trouble already, and now he had managed to get himself further in the shit by mouthing of to his friend's dad, which also happened to be his dad's boss! He was dreading the day his dad returned, he hadn't even thought about Jackson.

"Sorry sir" He said quietly, hanging his head like a man would do when he was on his way to the gallows, and followed the Director to the cars.

* * *

><p>Vance tailed the two cars to the high school, managing to find out that they had dragged another twelve-year-old into their mess when they had to stop at the museum. He didn't realise that it was the two pre-teens idea in the first place.<p>

They were only five minutes away from the school now, and the teenagers had put a phone on in each car on speaker, connecting them to each other so they could get their stories straight and get into the least amount of trouble as possible.

"I don't think anything we could say will get us out of trouble. My dad looked ready to kill us all when he found us in the zoo."

"Look" Zach sighed "He seems to think it was all my idea, and I bet everyone else does too. Let's just go with that, at least then it will only be one of us getting into trouble"

"It doesn't work that way Zach. It doesn't matter whose idea it was, we went along with it so it's all our faults" Tom said. Even it would have worked, he wasn't about to let his friend take the fall.

"Look, I'm going to take the blame for the whole thing okay? I'm going to tell them it was me who hacked the school, and I was the one who introduced Jay to that girl and convinced him to go. And I talked the rest of you into it too."

The blond teenager was very protective over his family, and he wasn't about to let Jay get into huge trouble for hacking the school. If he lessoned everyone else's punishment too, it would be worth it.

"I'm not letting you do that!" Jayden argued.

"Jay, you've got a good record with the school. You are _not _ruining it. Dad and everyone will know I didn't hack them when we get home, so don't worry that I'm going to take the fall for it. But the school won't know"

"But, I did do it. So, I should get the blame, not you" The younger boy liked the fact that his cousin was willing to protect him, but he didn't want him to get into trouble either.

"Jayden, just let me do this" Zach stressed out to the younger boy seriously, making him agree if only reluctantly because he could see his cousin was just as stubborn as his grandpa Gibbs.

He smiled softly, his cousin was great. "Thanks Zach"

"No problem. What are big cousins for?" He shrugged it off; he didn't want any gratitude for doing this.

There was a collective groan as they saw their angry parents waiting just outside the main doors to the school reception. And they hung up the phones, getting out of the cars together.

They stopped in a group just a few small steps away from the cars, trying to gather the courage they needed to face the annoyed group across the car park.

"Time to face the music guys"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Thanks for your reviews. much appreciated. **_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Tuesday Afternoon **_

The students stood in a line in a spare classroom the Principle had managed to find because there were too many people to fit in his office. While the adults stood opposite them, some of them leaning on desks, and all of them glaring at their wayward children.

"Let's get to the bottom of this shall we." Principle Jones glared at them all. The bulk of them were bright and studious pupils, it was a surprise to him that they would skip school. But there was one or two, mainly Zach but Tom was included in that, that he wasn't surprised about at all. "Why did you think your time was better spent in the zoo, rather than in school learning?"

Zach spoke up before anyone else had the chance. Also he wasn't sure if any of the others _would _speak "It was my fault. I set Jay up on a date, and I convinced the others to come because it would be fun."

"As much as I'm glad that you are owning up Zach, I highly doubt that you forced anyone else to come with you. I think it is fair to say that you all share a part in today's adventure, so you can all share a part in your punishment. All of you have two weeks lunch time detention, anyone think that is unfair?" The principle dared them to answer back, but even Zach wasn't that stupid.

"No sir" They all chorused.

"Good. I'll leave you in the capable hands of your parents and guardians in a minute. But first I want to know who changed the school register" He eyed each and every one of them, looking more closely at Jayden though because he knew of his computer brilliance.

"It was me sir" Zach once again stepped forward, trying his hardest to not look at the disappointment in his grandfather's face. The man had no idea that he didn't have the slightest idea where to begin when hacking someone, so for all he knew, Zach was telling the truth.

"So why don't you show any of these talents in your I.T class?" The principle asked disbelieving; he knew the teenager was just managing to get an acceptable grade in most of his classes.

"There are no assignments on hacking" The blond shrugged.

Principle Jones narrowed his eyes at him "I think me and you have talked about your smart mouth on numerous occasions Zach."

"Sorry" Zach was extremely grateful his dad wasn't there, because the man was still blissfully, in Zach's opinion, unaware of most of the trouble he caused in school time. He knew it would catch up with him eventually, but he was pretty sure that it would be a while yet.

"I don't want your apologies, I just want you to watch what you say before you get yourself in big trouble for it" The principle warned him.

He glanced one look up and down the line of teenagers, noting each of them looked extremely guilty besides Zach. It was obvious to the Director and the principle that he was not the hacker; even it wasn't as obvious to his own grandfather, who didn't know the extent of Zach's computer skills.

"Are you sure it was you Zach? Because if it was, I have no choice but to give you suspension for the rest of the week" He doubted Zach would own up, but he hoped the person who was responsible would.

The blond teen was standing next to the twelve-year-old, and tried to subtlety elbow him when he tried to speak. He spoke loud himself to ensure that no one heard the quiet voice that said 'He didn't do it'.

"Yea, it was me. I would show you how I did it, but a magician never reveals his secrets" He knew being cocky would force the attention onto him, and hopefully the adults would forget about the rest of them.

"Zach, you do know that hacking is a criminal offence. You could get arrested for this" Director Vance stepped in. He knew it wasn't the British teenager, but he also didn't know who it was, and he wanted it to sound as serious as possible so hopefully the culprit would own up rather than let someone else take the fall.

The teenager gulped visibly, he didn't know that, and sent a look that said to Jayden 'keep quiet' before standing with his hands out, wrists together. "So, arrest me"

"You are gunna wish you had just been arrested by the time I'm done with you" Jack growled, walking closer to him. He could see so much of Leroy in Zach that he knew he would have no problem disciplining his grandson.

All of the pupils were dismissed soon after that, except for Zach, into the care of their parents. Leon looked like he wanted to push the issue that it wasn't Zach who had hacked the school, but he guessed that Jackson would know that it wasn't him and left it.

"Sarah, Jayden, If you would mind waiting outside please while I talk to your grandfather and Zach alone" Principle Jones dismissed them and the youngest boy looked like he was about to say something before Sarah gripped his arm and dragged him out.

* * *

><p>"Why did you do that?" Jayden scowled at her, shaking her off him the second the door had closed.<p>

"Because Zach wants to take the rap, so let him." Sarah felt guilty, but she knew that she they couldn't say anything now after Zach had gone to all that trouble to make it believable.

"But it wasn't him who did it. And he's getting suspended. Gibbs will murder him!" Jayden felt even worse than Sarah. He had tried twice now to own up, but both times he had been unsuccessful.

"Jay, look." She understood why her boyfriend was doing this, and she honestly thought she loved him a little bit more because of it. "Zach has already gotten expelled from a school before; a few days suspension isn't going to bother him. But you've got nothing written on your record, so this will seriously affect you. He's doing the right thing, whether you know it or not"

"Oh…" The boy smiled sadly, being told that did nothing to ease the tremendous guilt he was feeling. "But… it was still me, not him."

"If it makes you feel any better, you know our family will see right through it. They all know that Zach can only work the internet on the computer" She joked weakly.

"True" He nodded.

* * *

><p>"Zach, I don't think you realise how serious this is" Principle Jones still hadn't given in and 'believed' that Zach had changed the registers. "If you still insist that it was you, I am going to have to suspend you for three days <em>and <em>put it on your permanent record. I'm sure you friend, who ever it was, would understand why you told"

"Why doesn't anyone believe me! I'm not a complete moron that I can't do something" The teenager was getting bad tempered now. He knew he was getting into a lot of mess and just didn't want to think about it for any longer than he had to. He knew it would all be worth it if it meant his cousin didn't ruin his perfect record though.

"I never said that you were a moron" Principle Jones had an amazing ability to stay calm where other teachers would have flown of the handle weeks ago with Zach and his mouth. "I'm just making sure that you know the consequences before you carry on down this route"

"Yes. I do!"

Jackson didn't have the same ability as the Principle, and was seconds away from smacking the boy in front of him. "Zacharriah Jethro Gibbs, I'll remind you to not use that tone in front of me"

"Sorry grandpa. But no one will listen. I hacked the school register, just give me suspension and get it over and done with"

The principle and Jack shared a look, and the elderly man had a shot at getting the teenager to tell the truth. "Give it up; we both know you are lying. Just tell us it wasn't you, before you end up in worse trouble for lying."

"But… I'm not lying." He lied, deciding to use what Jay had told him this morning when he had done it. "I'm telling you the truth. I did it before school today, and I timed it so that when the registers were sent, it would change our mark to present"

Jack stepped closer, looking into the icy blue eyes. "I want you to promise me Zach, that you are telling the truth."

The blond didn't see a way out of it, and did his best to not give the game away. "I promise you grandpa."

He must have done a good job of it, because his grandfather nodded in acceptance, and turned away to the school principle to talk about the suspension and detentions.

* * *

><p>"Kate, sweetie, go get your monster dolls from your bedroom to play down here okay?" Jack talked gently to her, watching her skip up the stairs before turning on the three teenagers.<p>

"While you three, can go sit in your bedrooms and think about today _and _last night. Zach go to my bedroom." His voice wasn't as soft as he spoke to the elder three.

"Grandpa, why are you punishing them? I already told you it was my entire fault. I'm the one whose idea it was to go to the Zoo, and I managed to get Jay a date and dragged everyone along." Zach wished that Jack wouldn't punish the other two.

"It takes two to tango son. In your case, it took three of you and all your friends" Jack glared.

"Yea, but it was mostly my fault. And last night, I swear to you that Sarah didn't know where we were going, I was trying to surprise her. And I just landed her into trouble. So, I should be the one getting sent upstairs, not them"

Zach was trying to cover for Sarah too, because he didn't want to think about his girl getting into trouble, even if it was her idea. And Jayden was his little cousin; of course he was going to protect him.

"I wouldn't be worrying about anyone else if I were you Zacharriah. I'm planning on taking a switch to you tonight, so I'd be concerned for yourself" Jack was beyond angry with his eldest grandchild. He couldn't believe the teenager had gotten himself suspended, and had dragged everyone else along for the ride. But he did fully blame the others for their own actions in today's small adventure.

Zach went white, and kept his mouth shut, following the other two upstairs when Jackson pointed. He had heard a very unpleasant story about his dad getting switched when he had gotten suspended from school, and needless to say he was terrified. His dad had even promised him that he would never do that to him, because he thought it was too harsh for any possible misdeed.

He stopped the other two in the hallway before they split up. He knew he was going to have to keep the lies running or he would end up worse off, and so would those two. "You cannot tell him that I'm lying, okay?"

"…But Zach, he's going to use … you know you heard him." Jayden looked like he was close to tears.

"Don't worry mate. He's only using that on me, I can take it." _I hope_ "You'll make it worse for yourselves, and me, if we tell him the truth now."

"It won't be worse for you Zach." Sarah told him, biting her lip. "You were only trying to protect us, he'll understand"

"No" The blond shook his head firmly. "He won't. He made me promise him I was telling the truth. And I know he will just be that bit madder if I tell him I was lying."

"He won't be. He'll understand"

"Just trust me, both of you, I know what I'm doing, and I know what I've got myself into. Just stick to the story, and we'll all come out of this alright. Okay?" Zach wouldn't let them see the fear that had nearly over taken him.

"Okay Zach." Jay's voice was shaky, not afraid to show his fear.

"Fine" Sarah agreed. "But please Zach, don't get cocky with him, for your own sake."

Zach grinned at them both, trying to show them he would be okay. Before they split up and went into the separate rooms. Zach pacing agitatedly around the bedroom, positive that the other two were doing the exact same thing.

He waited half an hour before he heard Jackson's footfalls climbing up the stairs. And he sat down on the bed, overhearing the man talking to the youngest of the three. It wasn't long before Zach heard a sound he wished to never hear again, it was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and his young cousin crying.

The blond tried to block the sound out by covering his ears with his hands, but it wouldn't work. As he sat there he grew more and more scared about his upcoming chat with Jackson. He was already terrified, more so than he had ever been about a chat like this with his dad.

The sound of Jayden crying still continued, and Zach wanted to get away from it. He didn't think he would be able to stomach anymore, especially not if Sarah started crying too. He also didn't think he would be able to take his own, he was shaking at the thought of it, just like Jayden had been before.

Instinct took over, and Zach was quietly sneaking out of the bedroom, down the stairs and past the oblivious Kate in the living room, before he knew it, he was bolting it out of the house and down the street.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks for your reviews. I'm on a role at the minute, third chapter in a day. Though to be fair, I had write the first two the other day, just couldnt log in to post them.**


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Thanks for the reviews :) Just a warning there is spanking in the start of this chapter. **_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Tuesday Afternoon <strong>_

Jack made his way up the stairs, opting to deal with the person who had offended the least first. He would then move on to Sarah, and finally he would deal with Zach.

He knocked on the door once, before walking in and taking a seat next to the miserable looking twelve-year-old. "Why skip school Jayden? I know I haven't known you for very long, but you don't strike me as the type of kid that likes to get into trouble"

Jay shook his head, remembering he had agreed to go with Zach's story. "I don't. I just thought it would be fun to go to the zoo, and meet Holly."

"I'm guessing you don't need me to lecture you then do you?" The elderly man sighed. Punishing Jay was nothing like it was with Jethro, and he assumed Zach too. Jethro would have fought him till the very end, but Jayden looked far too guilty and accepting.

The brunet boy shook his head. "No grandpa Jack. I'm sorry I caused trouble."

"Come on then kid, lets get this over with" Jack didn't want to punish the child, but he knew he had to.

He knew it wouldn't be fair to either Zach nor Jayden if he let one of them get away with it and the other didn't. Considering Zach was his biological grandchild, it may have opened up feelings of doubt in the twelve-year-old, and Jack wouldn't have that. Also, he knew it would help ease the guilty the boy was feeling.

He nodded for the boy to stand up in front of him, getting him to push his jeans down his thighs before pulling him over his knee. He spanked him hard enough to leave an impression, but not so hard because he knew he was already sorry. The boy wouldn't even be feeling this by tomorrow night.

The boy was crying all the way through it, but Jack was sure he wasn't hurting him that much. He guessed it was just that he was feeling sorry for what he had done. He soon let him up, pulling him in for a quick hug before getting him to stand in front of him.

"Don't go along with your cousin's schemes anymore Jayden. Because they will just end up you being in a lot of trouble." Jack had a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gently squeeze.

"I … I won't grandpa" The boy bit his lip, willing himself not to cry again. It wasn't about the pain, it was about the tremendous guilty he was feeling about letting Zach take the heat.

"Good boy" Jack ruffled his hair, telling him he would call him down when tea was ready before leaving him in his bedroom to deal with the next miscreant.

* * *

><p>Vance had left his son in the school car park, telling him he would see him in his study later tonight when he finished work. But right now he was on the screen in NCIS LA, talking to the team about their mission.<p>

"…Leon, did you find the kids?" Gibbs asked once they had finished talking business. It was always Leon and Jethro when they were just being dads, rather than Director and Agent.

"I did, at the Zoo. And I gotta say, your son has got one smart mouth on him" Leon was still highly annoyed with his own son, and he knew Gibbs was fuming, and rightly so, with his.

Gibbs rubbed his face tiredly; the case was keeping him running off coffee, and hearing tales about his disobedient offspring was not helping matters. "Don't be afraid to whack him around the head like it do. I find that that helps his smart mouth"

Callen and Sam were once again amused by the boy he had never met. Nate was here this time too and was busy profiling Gibbs when he was talking about his son with the director, while Tim and Abby were listening in on the conversation, wanting to hear news about their own children and little sister.

"Oh, believe me I was tempted. I was seconds away from putting him over my knee, I don't know how you cope with him" Leon said exasperated.

"You should have. Anyone who wants to take a shot at controlling that mouth of his is welcome." Gibbs knew he didn't mean that. He wouldn't mind Vance or his trusted friends disciplining his child, but he would never let just _anyone _do so.

Leon nodded "like wise. You ever have a problem with Jared, I expect you to treat him like that."

Gibbs snorted "You honestly think your son would be a problem? I bet the others just dragged him along today."

"Hmm…" Leon pressed him lips together "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. I have a sneaky feeling he could be behind something, because Zach convinced the principle that it was him that hacked the school server, so Zach's gotten three day's suspension."

"Zach wouldn't be able to do that." Tim interrupted, now knowing the part his son played. "That had to be Jayden."

"I didn't think that Zach had done it. He was far too defensive about it. But he took the fall for it" Leon replied.

Gibbs couldn't help but feel proud that his son had protected his cousin, but he couldn't concentrate on that feeling long enough without being ticked off that his son had gotten them all into that situation in the first place. He was sure that after this had blown over, he could revisit his feelings of pride.

"Any chance that we can come home early Leon? I have a feeling that my dad is in way over his head here" Gibbs gut was churning, and he knew something else was up other than what he had just been told.

"Sorry Jethro. But Zach will still be here when you get back. I can scare him into thinking you're coming home early though, if you want?" The man on the screen smirked. He thought it would be quite humorous to scare the cocky teenager into behaving.

It was a tempting offer Gibbs thought, but declined it. He knew how horrible it was waiting in anticipation, and even though his son completely deserved it, he wouldn't do that to him.

* * *

><p>Sarah was waiting anxiously in her bedroom. Sarah had let the young girl pick the theme for the bedroom, and she had chosen Scooby Doo. They had Scooby doo wall paper, bed sheets and accessories, with bats painted on the ceiling done by Abby. It was very childish, but Sarah didn't mind.<p>

She was in tears as she heard Jayden cry, and she now knew that Jackson wasn't a pushover. She couldn't help but think of the upcoming consequences for Zach, which was going to be a lot worse than either her or Jayden's because he was taking the blame for it all.

Jack knocked on her door, and made his way into the room, sitting on the bed opposite her. The girls had opted to have separate beds rather than bunk. She decided then and there that she couldn't live with the guilt if she had to listen to Zach getting severely punished for something they had done.

"Grandpa Jack, I got something to tell you. And I think Jayden has too" She was already in tears, unsure if she was doing the right thing or not by confessing. On one hand she was telling the truth, but the other she may just make it worse for all of them like Zach had said.

Jack frowned. "I've all ready talked to Jayden. He didn't have much to say"

"That's… that's because Zach made him not say anything. Don't get mad with Jay, or Zach. Especially Zach." She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Please don't try to tell me you're playing the martyr now" Jack said, his patience he had entered the room with slipping away slowly.

Sarah shook her head. "No, I'm not playing martyr. I'm going to tell the truth, something we haven't been doing an awful lot of lately."

"I'm all ears" The elder man was interested in what she had to say now, rather than impatient.

"Well you know about the concert last night, that's where it all started. Zach didn't surprise me with it, it was my idea. He said we shouldn't go, but I convinced him too. He warned me that you wouldn't be happy about it, but I didn't believe him" Sarah told him, looking straight up at him and not fiddling with anything so he knew she was being honest.

"Even so, you both lied to me and broke my trust. So, telling me that hasn't lessened either of your punishments." Jack told her, but he was pleased that she was telling him the whole story since Zach didn't seem willing to.

"Okay…" Sarah said unsurely now. She had thought the teenager's punishment would lessen slightly because of that, but clearly not. "When we got home, I snuck into his room and he told me to leave, but I didn't."

She took a deep breath now, knowing she was going to dog her nephew in it "And he told me about the girl Jayden met on the internet and was going to meet up with. Jay was going to go, with or without us, Zach was just looking out for him and making sure he didn't meet up alone. He thought it would be fun to go to the Zoo, and get everyone involved."

"Does it still seem like fun now?" Jack was still beyond reason with his grandson, he knew he just needed sometime to think over everything he was being told before he went to deal with him.

"No." She sighed "But I'm not finished. Jay wanted to tell you, and he did try to tell the principle twice but no one would listen to him. It was him who hacked the school server, not Zach. Zach was just trying to protect him."

Jack honestly didn't know what to think or say, so he kept quiet. If he forgot about everything except the exclusion, which was what he was most angry about. His grandson would still have made a promise in vain when he told him he was telling the truth and that didn't sit well with him.

But then again, the boy had just been trying to protect his family; something which he knew was just apart of whom the boy was and he knew that if he was given the chance again, he would make that promise each and every time to protect Jayden. Very much like how Jethro would go to the ends of the earth to protect the ones he loved.

"Zach really does mean well, he does. But he just doesn't go the best way about it. Please don't be too harsh on him" Sarah spoke quietly, breaking the silence.

Jack rubbed his eyes. Since when had a simple problem like play hooky become so complicated. He was wondering if he would need a holiday once the children left.

"I won't be as harsh as I was going to be" Jack stood up, patting her on the shoulder. "I'll be back upstairs afterwards, and we will deal with this all then. Just beware young lady; you are not out of the woods yet"

He left the room, going back downstairs and carried on putting shelves on the wall in his shop. He needed time to think about everything he had been told, and decide what the best course of action to take would be.

* * *

><p>Zach walked through DC airport, unsure of what he was doing. He got searched past security and was waiting in the lounge near the terminals. He must have looked slightly odd when he was checking in, because he had no luggage what so ever.<p>

"_Flight 232 to Los Angeles is now boarding" _a voice called out over the speakers, and Zach was heading down to the gate.

He honestly wasn't thinking clearly about this, he just thought it best option was to get away from his grandfather and his switch, and go to his dad.

He knew he was going to get into lots of trouble for this, but he thought it would be less because only his dad would punish him then and his grandpa wouldn't. If he stayed it would have been both of them. And he also knew he was getting extra trouble for swiping the card from his father's bedroom, his dad had a huge problem with people snooping in his stuff. It wasn't like he was robbing it, it was his own card, but it was supposed to be used for collage.

"Can I see you ticket sir?"

"Sure" Zach smiled pleasantly, showing her the ticket and boarded the plane.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Tuesday Evening **_

Jackson screwed another shelf up, which his son and grandson had so generously took time of working on their boat to build shelves and a counter for his soon to be shop. He had been working on it for well over an hour now, still thinking about what he was going to do with his three eldest grandchildren.

He thought about why he was the angriest with Zach in the first place, and figured it was because he had managed to get himself suspended, and over the course of the past few days had managed to rack up quite a tally chart of lies.

He had been annoyed that he had the audacity to think he could get away with everything just because his dad wasn't here, but that had turned out to be more Sarah and Jayden than him. But Zach had happily gone along, and to some extent thought that they could get away with it all. So in that respect, each of them were just as bad as the other.

They had all lied to him, something which hurt Jack the most. He had been nothing but good to them since he met them, and they threw it back in his face the first chance they got. It especially hurt when Zach had _promised _him that it was him that had done the hacking. He couldn't even tell he was lying, maybe he wasn't looking for the signs of a liar, or maybe he was just too old for this.

"Grandpa Jack…" Kate popped her head through the door, being careful to not step a foot inside because she knew she wasn't allowed in there because it was still like a work shop "I'm hungry, can we have dinner now please?"

He looked at his watch, noting it was quite late in the evening now and Kate should be in bed in under half an hour. He should have made her tea for her hours ago. "Sorry sweetie, I'll make it now. You like spaghetti on toast don't you?"

"Yep" She nodded.

"Good. Go get Zach, Sarah and Jayden from upstairs, and clean up for dinner while you are there" He told her, leaving his tools on the makeshift workbench to go and cook the food.

He set the table while waiting for the simple meal to cook, and cut the toast into little triangles, just exactly as Jethro's mother always did. He shared out the spaghetti between five plates, and had all plates sat at the kitchen table just as three of the four children walked in.

"Uhh…" Sarah bit her lip, and Jayden was looking nervously at his grandfather. Something had happened, and considering Zach wasn't there, it must have been something to do with him.

"What is it?" He asked, keeping as calm as he possibly could. He could tell by their faces that whatever they had to say, he wouldn't like.

"Um… well… Zach… he's kind of…."

"Zach's gone. He sneaked out of the house before grandpa" Kate happily supplied, tucking into her food.

"What? When did he leave?" The elderly man raised his eyebrows in shock. He didn't think the blond was this stupid, but evidently he was. He would throttle that boy when he got his hands on him.

Kate pursed her lips, her eyes looking upwards as she thought "When you were upstairs spanking Jayden"

"That was hours ago. Do any of you know where he went?" Jack was in the hallway, pulling his coat on and jamming his feet into his boots, planning to find the boy and drag him home.

"Nope. He never said nothing" The six-year-old shook her head.

Sarah and Jayden exchanged glances, wondering if they should tell the possible locations of their cousin and boyfriend. But in the end they decided they should, both of them had caused enough trouble for the day and they didn't want to make it worse.

"He could be at his house. Uncle Gibbs leaves his front door unlocked, so he could easily get in"

"Or at Tom or Jared's." Jayden added "He left his phone, so you can't find him that way"

Jack nodded, grabbing his car keys off the side "Right. I'll be back in a bit. Sarah, you are in charge."

* * *

><p>"What are you staring at?" A man in a dark suit sitting on the plane seat besides Zach glared at him.<p>

_Don't know, but its look back._ He retorted lamely in his head, but replied "Looking out the window, got a problem with that?"

There was something about this man that had his gut churning, and set him on edge. He had sun glasses on, despite it being dark and winter weather in DC. He was pale with dark hair, and clearly foreign from his thick accent that Zach knew was Russian, or from the Soviet Union.

"Its dark outside, you cannot be looking at much." The man said coldly "You'd do well to keep your nose in your own business"

Zach frowned, thinking the man was a freak. He had only glanced at him once and the man was accusing him of staring, and butting into his business. It wasn't like he was even talking, how could he possibly be putting his nose in his business?

"Why don't _you _keep _your _nose out?" He retorted.

"You should watch yourself kid. In a place like LA, it's _awfully _easy for one brat to go missing" The man dark eyes bored into him.

That statement shook Zach to his core, and he had the same feeling he used to get anytime he was with the old school principle or his step-father. This man was bad news, he could feel it. He knew his dad would tell him to trust his instincts, and avoid this man as soon as it became possible to do so.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Tuesday Night <strong>_

"Gibbs" He picked up the phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID. He assumed it would be his agent, calling back to give him information on the case they were working.

"_Jethro, the boy's gone missing" _His dad's voice sounded worried, and Gibbs now knew why his gut had been churning.

"What's happened dad?" He paid for his coffee, taking a sip of the boiling coffee and making his way back out onto the streets of LA.

"_Zach ran off about seven hours ago now. It's midnight here; I thought he would find his way back by now at least. Something doesn't feel right" _The Gibbs gut was a hereditary thing.

"I can feel it too" Gibbs admitted, more worried at the time being rather than angry at his son's stupidity. "Have you looked for him?"

"_What do you think I've been doing!" _Jack snapped. _"I've got Sarah to phone up his friends from school, he's not in anyone's house. I checked your house, and I checked the basketball courts thinking he might just be getting his head together. Ducky, Jimmy and Ashlee are helping the search, but we can't find him anywhere." _

"Have you looked in Dinozzo's flat? I've got a key in my house and he always goes to Tony if he's got a problem he can't talk to me about. I know Tony's not there, but it's worth a shot" Gibbs tried to rack his brains, thinking of anywhere else the teen might go.

"_Checked it already, no sign he has even been there." _He could here the tiredness in the older man's voice, and felt sorry that his son had done that to him.

"He'll turn up dad, I'm sure he will. Go home to bed, it's late there. Ring me when he gets in, I want a few words with that boy" Gibbs knew there was nothing else Jack could do but wait for Zach to come home. He vowed he would make his son sorry for his behaviour this week the second he got home.

"_I will. I'll call everyone off, I'm sure Ducky will be wanting a few words with the lad too. Good night son" _Annoying Doctor Mallard was one sure-fire way to land your self a major scolding from the Scottish man.

"Night dad" He hung up, and walked back to headquarters.

Something didn't sit quite right in his gut, and he knew it had to do with his son. He trusted his dad to find the teenager though, and it wasn't like he could get to DC quickly to find him himself. He would just have to wait as patiently as he could for news, which wasn't very patient, and would involve a number of cups of coffee and head slaps for McGee since Tony wasn't there.

* * *

><p>Zach landed in LAX, extremely grateful to be getting away the creepy Russian man. He stopped on his way through the airport; purchasing him self a pair of designer sunglasses that he thought looked cool. If he was going to get in trouble for using his card, he might as well make it worth while.<p>

He was walking through the exit doors, planning to get a taxi to take him to a nice hotel that he could spend the night in. Then the next day he could go shopping for clothes, maybe go to the beach, and after that he would find his ad, uncle and aunt. He deserved to have a little fun before he had to face his, no doubt, furious father.

But he didn't quite make it far enough to a taxi. He saw the Russian guy again, and this time he was talking to another man, a dark blond man with a near shaven head. He looked American, but he was talking Russian so Zach wasn't so sure.

"You, brat, get here" The dark-haired man spotted him in the corner of his eyes.

Zach looked around quickly, seeing no one else around but these two men. He wanted to run, but for some reason his legs wouldn't take him and his gut, oddly enough, was telling him to do what the man said. It could have also been the fact the man let him see a glint of metal tucked in the waist band of his suit, letting him know it was either listen, or die.

"What do _you_ want?" Zach glared up at him. He knew it was stupid being cocky to a man with a gun, but that was just his style. He was a Gibbs; he never backed down in the face of danger.

"How would you like a job? A runt like you could do with the money. And I pay _extremely _well"

The teenager noted that the blond man had looked a bit surprised to see him at first, and now was looked extremely uncomfortable, but trying to hide that fact from the Russian. Zach had gotten a lot better at reading people in recent months, he guessed it was just something you picked up on when your family was full of special agents.

The blond man argued with the Russian for a minute in the foreign tongue, he didn't look happy with the darker haired man. But then the Russian smirked a cold and heartless smirk and said something back, before turning on Zach.

"So, what is it brat? Do you want a job?" It was obvious that he wasn't going to accept no as an offer, but it didn't mean Zach wasn't going to try.

He looked around once, hoping there was someone else around that he could call for help, but there was no one. "As tempting as that offer sounds, I'm going to have to say no."

The man used his right hand to sweep his jacket out of the way, letting his hand rest on the butt of his gun. "Are you sure about that? Like I said before, you are given the ultimate pay. You get to live"

Zach bite back his fear. He had no other choice but to agree to whatever this man said. He was slightly disappointed that he wasn't going to be spending a night in a posh hotel, but he suspected that living was a better option right now.

"Okay. What is it?"

"Ah, that was easier than I suspected." The man waved a dark car over that had been waiting a down the street. "My associate will fill you in, and I'll see you in a day." He put one foot in the black car and kept his gaze on Zach "Do not try to run or you will be shot."

The blond teen shuddered at that, watching as he drove off out of sight and he was left with the other man. There was something about this man that he trusted though, he didn't seem cold and callous like the Russian had, and his gut wasn't even twitching when he looked at him.

"So…" The man grinned, holding out his hand to shake as a huge dark man came up next to him "I'm your Uncle G, this is Sam. Welcome to Los Angeles, Zach"


	8. Chapter 8

_**Tuesday Night**_

Zach's brain didn't process the part where G called his name; instead all he could think about was escaping the lunatics. The big guy, Sam, had come over, and the teenager's thoughts of escaping became more and more desperate as he sized him up.

He looked across the car park to where there was a blocks of flats with a bar underneath one of them. He was sure he could run that and manage to get lost in the alleyway between the two buildings before one of the men caught him up, and they weren't threatening him with guns, which was a plus.

He took a deep breathe, it was now or never, and he bolted. He heard the two men swear behind him and gave chase, he could see the alleyway get closer and closer into sight, but before he knew it he was grabbed around the chest and his arms pinned to his side by someone much bigger than him.

"Calm down kid. We're not going to hurt you" Sam said, keeping a hold of the blond easily. He was strong for a sixteen-year-old, but he didn't compare in strength or size to a former Navy SEAL.

"Like hell you aren't! Get off me you freak!" Zach tried to break free with all his might, but it was useless. He wouldn't give up though.

"We are NCIS agents, Zach" Callen came in front of him, speaking to him calmly "We work with your dad. By the way, he is really not happy with you, and he is starting to give me a headache" He tugged his ear, giving him a hint that he was wearing an earwig.

Zach stopped struggling now and Sam let him free. It did make sense though, neither of them gave off a bad vibe like the Russian had, and they seemed to know who he was, and who his dad was.

"Oh… sorry about that" his ears burned with embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it." Sam patted him on the shoulder, leaving his hand there as he led him over to a car. "Come on, we will take you to your dad. I'm sure you are dying to see him"

Zach gulped at the thought. His dad had obviously just witnessed through camera feed the dangerous deal he had just gotten himself involved in. He had no idea what it was, and it wasn't his fault he was involved, it was a case of wrong time wrong place. But he was sure his father wouldn't see it that way.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad" The dark blond man reassured him, opening the back door of the car and indicating the teenager should get in.

"I thought you said you knew my dad?" Zach raised his eyebrows, not moving a muscle to get into the car.

Callen nodded thoughtfully "Yea… you're right. You are so screwed kid."

The large man interrupted them, wincing with something he had just heard on the earwig "Your dad says your better hurry up and get in the car or… well, let's just say you do not want to know what he is threatening to do"

Zach sighed, wondering what option he would prefer at the moment. That he was getting into a car with criminals under threat of death from the scary Russian guy. Or he was getting into the car to be taken to one pissed off Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

* * *

><p>"I've found him" Gibbs said into the receiver, watching on the screen as his son tried to run away before he was grabbed by Sam.<p>

"_You have? Where?" _Jackson's sleepy voice was confused. How could he have found the boy when he was in LA? Realisation hit him. "_He hasn't has he?" _

"Oh. He has." Gibbs growled "He landed here about fifteen minutes ago, and he has already found him self a job in drugs trafficking"

"_Drugs trafficking? What is going on Jethro? Is he alright?" _The confusion was back in his voice as was worry.

"Lucky for him, the person who he got left with is an undercover agent. He's fine, well he is until I get my hands on him" Gibbs had been terrified when he had seen his son get called over by the man, even though he knew Callen would have stopped anything happening to him. But anger had quickly replaced the fear he felt.

"_Keep me in the loop Jethro. And tell him that he and I are going to have a talk when he gets home" _

"Will do dad."

* * *

><p>"Woah… this place actually looks cool." Zach admired the NCIS La headquarters. He had been expecting the disgusting orange walls, but instead it looked more like a Spanish villa. Director Vance should really think about getting whoever decorated in here to do DC's office as well.<p>

"You… you don't have any elevators here though? Do you?" The teen asked the two agents nervously, knowing his father was around here somewhere and he had a fondness of elevators.

"Ah… young Mr Gibbs" A little lady with black hair came over to him. Even though he was taller than her, the look she gave him was enough to make him know she was a force to be reckoned with. "Your father is upstairs, dealing with the mess you have made. I suggest you find yourself a seat, and try to keep out of trouble until he comes to collect you"

Zach nodded, wincing when she mentioned his dad. The man would be furious with him, and it showed he was because he wasn't even coming down to greet him. He hadn't seen him for a couple of days, he assumed his dad would have wanted to see him, even if he was angry at him.

"Don't be so harsh on him Hetty. He's going to get it good from Jethro later tonight anyway" G, his newly self-appointed uncle, defended him.

Hetty turned her look on him, she was far from impressed with Zach's actions and how they had managed to get him involved in their case. The agent back-tracked quickly, not liking the powerful lady being angry with him, and she turned on her heel, walking up the stairs.

"Is everyone mad with me?" Zach looked up sadly at the two men. He knew his dad was mad at him, so was grandpa, his Aunt and Uncle would probably be too if they thought it was him that had been directing Sarah and Jayden over to the dark side, and now this woman who he had never met anymore was annoyed with him.

"Nah, Hetty's just like that sometimes. Takes her a while to warm up to people" Callen assured him, and lead him over to a desk so the teen could sit down while everyone else talked business.

"Is it just me or does she remind you of Edna mode from the Incredibles?" The teen asked all of a sudden. He had thought she had reminded him of someone when he walked through the door, and now he figured it out he couldn't keep it to him self.

Sam snorted "Whatever you do, don't let her hear you say that"

* * *

><p>"Yes Director. I'll make sure to keep him on a leash next time" Gibbs gritted his teeth as he spoke to the Director.<p>

He couldn't believe he was getting chewed out because his son had somehow managed to get involved with the Russian Mafia. His son knew how to get into trouble that was for sure. And he was going to make sure he regretted every single bad mistake he had made this week when he got him alone.

"Good. Keep me posted" The Director cut the video feed.

Vance was majorly pissed. They were so close to apprehending a major player in a branch of the Russian mafia, and now when Callen returned without the boy, they would know something was up and they would run. And there would go their shot of shutting down one big drug traffickers in the DC and LA area.

"What are we going to do then Jethro? I can't go back without Zach, they'll be spooked. But I don't think you want him going back to that man anyway" Callen spoke up. Everyone was gathered up in the room, wondering what their next move would be.

"No chance in hell." Gibbs was adamant. It wasn't that long ago that his son had gotten kidnapped, and the feelings of fear he had gone through with that whole ordeal were still fresh in his mind. He would never ever be put through something like that again; he didn't care if the whole investigation went down the drain.

They all nodded acceptingly, Abby and Tim glad that their team leader had chosen not to let anything happen to their nephew.

"We'll.." Sam clapped his hand "we need to find a new idea then. We could say that Zach ran just after he left, because he did run."

Tim was about to talk but Gibbs interrupted him. "Everyone come up with a new plan. I am taking my son to the hotel. Abs, you coming?"

Abby nodded, giving her husband a quick peck on the lips goodbye and telling him not to stay too late. There wasn't much else Abby could do here at the moment; there was no evidence to process, so she would be best of going to get a decent nights sleep.

* * *

><p>"Uh… hey dad, Aunt Abs" Zach smiled sheepishly when his dad and Aunty came to collect him from the LA bullpen. His dad looked like a volcano ready to burst at any moment, and he was going to stick to the thin and narrow and try to not infuriate the man any further.<p>

"Zacharriah, with me" Gibbs commanded him and started to walk out of the building with the scientists, Zach hurrying to keep up with him.

He climbed into the backseat of the car, wincing when his dad slammed it shut behind him. Oh man, he was going to be slaughtered when they got to the hotel. Even though the two Gibbs' were silent, it didn't mean that Abby was going to be.

"Zachy, you are so naughty." Unfortunately, she was going to talk about something the teen would definitely rather she didn't. "I can't believe you ran off from Grandpa Jack. And you got in with the Russian Mafia. I think you can give Tony a run for his money for getting into trouble"

"I'm not naughty Aunt Abby" The teen was affronted at the childish insult. He was just misguided sometimes.

"oh yea? What would you call your behaviour then young man?" Gibbs challenged him, and the teen clamped his mouth shut, making sure he didn't say something to aggravate the man.

"Thought so, you and I are going to have…" The rest of what Gibbs was going to say was cut of by the squeal of tyres on the road when he slammed the brakes because a car had pulled out in front of him, blocking the way on the dark street.

"Abby, Zach, I want you to both stay very quiet okay? We've got into a bit of trouble but everything will be all right." Gibbs anger was gone as he projected his voice into perfect calmness and reached for his weapon.

"D…dad? What's happening?" Zach tried not to let him self panic, but it was scary when he noticed the four dark figures, all with their arms outstretched and holding weapons, heading towards their car.

"I don't know. Don't get cocky Zach, just do what they tell you." Gibbs cocked his weapon, knowing it would be pointless, they were outnumbered.

"Gibbs…" Abby's small voice came from the passenger seat, and Gibbs squeezed her shoulder once, reassuring her.

"Don't worry, both of you. We'll get out of this" The silver-haired man waited for their car doors to open as one by their capturers, and fire off three rounds, managing to hit the man straight in the heart, but also taking a shot to his right shoulder.

"Drop your weapon!" The third man came into view, and Zach grimaced when he saw who it was under the street light.

The creepy Russian guy from the airport. There was a lot more going on than Zach knew about, and he had a feeling that he, his dad and aunt were just bargaining chips. They were ordered to get out of the car, and the teen seized his opportunity, grabbing his Aunt's smart phone and stuffing it down the front of his trousers, positive the Russians wouldn't check there, at least he hoped.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks for your reviews :) I wasn't planning on doing the story like this, Zach wasn't even supposed to go to LA, but I guess the story just has a mind of its own. Oh, ive only watched up to the 6th episode of NCIS: LA, so sorry if i dont have the characters right. **


	9. Chapter 9

_**Tuesday Night/ Very early Wednesday morning **_

The three of them were thrown into the back of a black van parked near the side, after a brisk search for weapons and phones. Two of the men got into the front of the van, and the man from the airport, who was clearly their leader, got into the car that had blocked them in the first place, giving his two men instructions in Russian.

Abby was crying silently, leaning on Gibbs good side as he wrapped an arm around her. Zach was opposite him, looking deathly pale, not that Gibbs blamed him one second for being scared. The three Russians hadn't even looked at the body of the man he had shot, it showed how little they cared about one of their own, and how even less they would care about their lives.

"Dad… are you okay?" The teen mouthed, looking worriedly at the shoulder that he knew the man had been shot in.

Gibbs nodded giving his son a quick smile, reading the boy's lips. He wanted nothing more to wrap his other arm around his son, but his shoulder was in agony, and he didn't think it would be a wise move if the two men saw them climbing around in the back.

He didn't have a chance to say anything else, because one of the men turned around in his seat, his weapon already cocked to show he was not to be fooled around with, and keeping his eyes steadily on each of his prisoners.

It wasn't long before they were being dragged out of the back of the van, and into an abandoned warehouse. They were thrown to their knees in front of the leader, and Gibbs winced, biting his tongue from screaming out in pain as his shoulder was roughly tugged.

"What do you want Petrov?" Gibbs spat, standing up and nodding at Abby and Zach to do the same.

"Ah, so you know my name, _Gibbs_" Petrov smirked coldly.

"And you know mine." Zach could see just how dangerous his dad was now when crossed, and he was just glad that he was the man's son. He would never want to get on the other side of _that _glare.

"I know your son's too. Did the boy tell you? Me and him had a lovely plane ride together, didn't we _Zach_?" Petrov chuckled, this was all just a game to him.

The blond teen wanted to tell Petrov where he could go, but the warning look his dad gave him made him keep his mouth shut.

"I see you can control your son's mouth." The Russian motioned for the other two men to take Abby and Gibbs away. Gibbs put up a fight straight away when he saw that Zach wasn't coming with them, there was no way he was leaving his son alone.

"Stop it!" Petrov barked, pulling out his gun and aiming it straight at Zach's head. "Keep fighting Gibbs, and I will shoot your brat."

The agent did stop fighting, only because that was his only option that he could take without risking his son's life. He wasn't above threatening as he was pulled away though "You harm a single hair on my boy's head, and I'll make a jail sentence the least of your worries"

Petrov nodded lowering his gun, finding it hilarious that someone could threaten while he held the upper hand. "Whatever you say."

"What do you want with me?" The blond asked when the two men disappeared with his dad and Aunt.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You are just the distraction. NCIS will be so busy searching for you three, that they will not bother with me. By the time they have found you, I will have long fled the USA"

"Why are you telling me this? Why not tell my dad this too?" Zach asked suspiciously.

"Because I needed to get rid of those two goons with me. They will be the ones watching you until NCIS comes and gets rid of them for me. They think they are my partners" Petrov snorted at the thought of it "What they need to learn is that everyone is disposable, and the Mafia will not miss two idiots like them."

"Three including you, NCIS will so kick your ass if my dad doesn't" Zach edged closer towards him, hoping that he could dive and snatch the gun from his hand if he got close enough.

"Do not make me laugh brat. Your dad can barely use one of his arms, there is no way he is getting out of here. And as for NCIS, they've been trying to catch me for years. I was going to offer you a chance to keep your life, but now I am not so sure" He said slickly.

"Meaning?" _A chance to keep his life! _Zach thought alarmed. He obviously did not wanting the three of them to come out of this alive, well five of them if you included the other two Russians.

"If you come with me now brat, and keep your trap shut. I will let you keep your life, on condition that you work for me" Teenagers were so easier to train than an adult would be, maybe one day this little brat could play a big part in drug trafficking for the mafia, or maybe he would kill him long before then. Who knew.

"I would never work for you" Zach spat, getting close enough and diving on the hand with the gun.

Unfortunately he missed, Petrov pulled his arm up at the last second, firing a round in the air to alert his two goons. "Big mistake brat"

Zach tried to roll back to his feet, but was too late and Petrov's expensive designer shoes connected with the back of his head, knocking him out cold.

"Take him to the other two. I am leaving." The leader straightened out his suit, not even looking back as he made his way to the exit.

"What do you want us to do with them?"

"Anything. Kill them, keep them. Just as long as you don't leave them until I give the order, I don't care" He smiled a cold smile, those two idiots wouldn't know that he had double crossed them until it was too late.

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><p><em><strong>Bang! <strong>_A gunshot sounded through the warehouse.

Gibbs and Abby had been left alone in a small room, and now the Agent was immediately over to the locked door, trying to get out of is because he feared the worst.

"Gibbs! Please tell me that wasn't what I thought it was?" Abby begged him, tears in her eyes.

Gibbs swallowed back his own fear, unsure of what to say. He didn't have time to say anything though, before he heard two pairs of footsteps walking down their way, and he was pulling Abby to the back wall, watching as the door opened and they threw his son to the floor.

"He's got a pulse. He's just knocked out" Gibbs breathed a sigh of relief, and pulled his son's unconscious body over to the back wall, making sure he was as comfortable as possible in the small dark and dank room.

"His head's bleeding" Abby folding up the jacket Gibbs had put round her shoulders earlier and put it under the blond's head.

Gibbs pulled his son's head up to look, it was only small and it wasn't life threatening he was glad to know. He groaned slightly as pain over took his body, he really shouldn't have been moving around that much with his arm, in fact he really should be in hospital now.

"Gibbs, what are we going to do?"

The man beckoned her over again, wrapping his good arm around her shoulders and kissing the top of her head. "I'll figure it out Abs, don't worry. I'll get us out of here"

* * *

><p>Tim thanked Nate for the lift back to the hotel they were staying at while in LA. He found it odd that he didn't see the agency car in the car park, but he assumed he had just missed it.<p>

It was only when he went into his room and found that Abby wasn't there that set his gut churning. He went to the room next door, his gently knocking turning to loud banging when nobody answered.

He tried Abby's phone, getting no answer, and the same with Gibbs phone. They were both switched on, but no one was answering. Something was definitely wrong.

"Callen, Gibbs, Abby and Zach are missing. I think something's happened"

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><p>Zach groaned as he came into consciousness when he felt a buzzing by his crotch. The back of his head was throbbing and his whole mind was fuzzy, making him forget about the feeling in an effort to find out where he was.<p>

"Zach, are you alright?" His dad was over to his side straight away, once again forgetting about his own pain just to check over his son.

"Uh… yea… where am I?" He sat up, squeezing his eyes tight shut and leaning heavily on his dad when the world started spinning around him.

"We've been kidnapped remember. But don't worry, you're safe, and I'll get you out of this" Gibbs hugged him tightly to him, kissing the top of his blond head, revelling in the fact that his son was okay.

"Oh… yea.." All the memories started coming back to Zach, right up to the point where he jumped for the gun. "Sorry, dad."

"What for? It's not your fault we're here"

Zach sighed, keeping his eyes shut because he was afraid that if he opened them he would find two pairs of angry eyes looking at him. "It is. If I hadn't gotten on the plane, we wouldn't be here. And if I'd been quick enough, I would have gotten the gun before Petrov knocked me out"

"What do you mean? Get the gun?" Gibbs frowned, not liking the last bit he heard.

The teen chewed his bottom lip now, opening his eyes and finding his dad's gentle, but stern eyes looking at him. He should have kept that bit of information to himself. "I.. uh… I tried to jump for Petrov's gun, but I missed him, and well, ended up in here with you guys."

Gibbs let go of him with his good hand, and leaned over to give him a powerful swat to the side of his butt, the sound rebounding off the small room. "Don't you ever be so foolish again! What were you playing at? You could have gotten you self killed doing that? Is that what you wanted?"

"No.. I just taking a chance that could have gotten us out of here" Zach cringed under the hard stare, stopping him self from rubbing where his dad had smacked him. Only his dad would smack someone while they were being held hostage.

"Next time, leave that to me. What did Petrov want with you?"

Zach told him exactly what Petrov had told him, including the offer to work for him which Gibbs was happy to note his son turned him down, not that he had expected otherwise, and the fact that they were just the distraction for him.

_Bzzt! Bzzt! _

Zach felt the buzz again, and this time more aware of his surroundings quickly reached down to get the phone, giving his dad and Aunty a mischievous smirk when they gave him a look saying 'what the hell are you doing?'

"Forget I had this" He pulled out the phone, pressing the answer button and handing it over to his dad.

Gibbs took the phone, slightly disgusted about where it had been, but he didn't really have any other choice. He made sure to keep it away from his face, and was holding between two fingers. "McGee, listen up! Trace this call and find us. Petrov's got us. We're in a room in the back of the warehouse, and there are two of his men guarding us"

"I so don't want that phone back anymore. You can keep it Zachy" Abby smiled weakly through her tears, while Gibbs was on the phone to Tim, planning their rescue.

"Cheers." He grinned; this kidnapping was a breeze now that he knew help was on the way. He also suspected that the concussion had something to do with the fact he wasn't worried. "Can't blame me though right? Least I managed to get a phone through."

Abby shuffled over to him, giving him a tight hug and then letting her head rest on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her; she needed the comfort so much more than he did. He had his dad the other side of him anyway.

He may have been sixteen, and she and adult, but this was the career he wanted when he was older. He wanted to be an agent just like his dad, and right now his dad was calm and collected, so that was how he would act. Abby was a scientist, she never wanted to be in situations like these, she hated every minute of them. That was why it was her that was the one that needed comfort the most; she needed to know that they would all get out of this alive.

"Hurry up McGee, Zach had concussion; I want to get him checked over…." Gibbs knew it was only minor concussion, but he still wouldn't be happy until it had been checked out by a doctor, and only then would he want to get his arm sorted.

The door to the room slammed open, banging loudly on the wall. There was only one Russian there, his weapon at arms length and his nostrils were flaring angrily as he saw the phone Gibbs had quickly tried to hide.

The barrel of the gun was pointing straight at Gibbs' head. Gibbs could see it in his eyes that the man was going to kill him, but he didn't know what he could do. The second he moved he would be a dead man, but if he didn't do anything, he would still be a dead man.

Zach watched with horror as the Russian pulled the trigger back slowly. He didn't even think, his only thoughts were stopping that bullet from hitting someone. He pushed Abby gently off him, his dad just missing to grip onto him and he ran at the man, hearing shouts and screams in his ears.

_**Bang! **_The pistol went off.

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks for the reviews. :) Sorry to leave it like this. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Yea , was my fault lol. I'm a plonker, I uploaded the same chapter twice. Sorry :) **

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><p><em><strong>Early Wednesday morning<strong>_

Everything went in slow motion.

The Russian man started to pull his finger slowly back, Zach dived from where he was leant up against the wall with his dad and Aunt, Gibbs tried to grab his wrist to pull him back before he ended up getting shot but he missed. Zach ran two steps, his aunt screaming and his dad yelling out for him, he pushed himself off his feet, and rugby tackled the man roughly to the ground.

_**Bang! **_The pistol went off, missing Zach's head by millimetres, and embedding it's self into the wall next to him.

The teenager and man wrestled for the upper hand, Zach trying to get the gun off him, while the man tried to push the blond off him. Gibbs got up, planning to join the fray, but his son seemed to have the upper hand, so he stood by to watch, ready to step in if his son was going to get hurt.

Gibbs was oddly proud as he watched the boy head butt the man, and used the man's distraction to quickly pry the gun from his hands. He rolled to his feet, pointing the pistol at the Russian, and looked far too comfortable in that role for Gibbs comfort.

"You are so under arrest dirt bag!" He grinned, looking over at his dad for reassurance.

Gibbs shook his head smiling, Abby tucked under his good arm safely. They didn't notice until it was too late, the man swore in Russian, and used his feet to kick the teenager's legs out from under him. The gun clattered to the floor, and the man stretched out his arm to reach it, only to have his hand crushed underneath Gibbs' boot.

"Uh… bloody bastard!" Zach groaned, climbing back to his feet and rubbing his backside where he landed hard on the concrete floor. "And don't say I can't swear dad, because this situation calls for it."

"Didn't I just say two minutes ago _not _to dive at anyone with a gun again?" He raised his eyebrows incredulously.

"Hey, I got us out of here didn't I?" He was unabashed.

"You got us out of here? You forgot about getting dropped on your ass quick enough." He told him.

"_This is why I killed my father_" The man muttered in Russian, bringing the agent's attention back to him.

Gibbs used the butt of the gun, bringing it down on the back of the Russian's head, knocking him out. He wanted to kill the man for a having the nerve to kidnap his son and the woman he thought of as a daughter, but he didn't want to do that in front of the two, it wasn't right.

"Come on, we don't have much time. Keep quiet and stay behind me." The agent poked his head out of the door, looking both ways before signalling with his head for them to follow.

Zach took hold of Abby's hand, letting her squeeze it painfully tight, as they followed his dad. He was in awe as he watched the man in the field; he was just so… cool. He had his right arm, which Zach knew was his writing hand and so therefore must have been his shooting arm, held tightly to his body, and he was using his left hand, quickly sweeping the hallway and keeping his eyes and ears trained for any sign of movement or sound.

Gibbs sent three rounds of as soon as he had target of the man, shooting him dead. He didn't have any other choice with this man because he was holding a weapon, his only concern was that his son would have seen it, but thankfully the boy was behind the wall out of sight, hugging Abby to try and stop her shaking.

"NCIS!" They heard Callen's shouting from the door, and the three of them made their way over, Abby rushing over to give her husband a hug.

"Looks like I saved you this time, huh Jethro?" G grinned over.

"Actually, you're late. We were just leaving" Gibbs handed the pistol over, and snagged his own weapon from off the side where the men had put it earlier.

"Want a lift to the hospital?" The blond agent asked, and Gibbs nodded gratefully. His arm was excruciatingly painful, and now he wasn't focused on getting out of here alive he could feel it just that bit more.

"Okay, McGee, do you want to drive them? I'll handle the clean up here." He tossed the key's over to McGee, knowing the agent wouldn't want to leave his wife.

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><p>Gibbs had been rushed into surgery as soon as he got to hospital. The doctors had assured a panicked Abby and Zach that he was fine, but they wanted to get the bullet that was still lodged in his shoulder out as quickly as possible, since it had been in there a long time already and they wanted to minimize the risk of infection.<p>

"Zach, let's go to the hotel. Your dad will be fine; he'll be sleeping off the anaesthetic for a while after his operation anyway. He'll want you to get cleaned up and get some rest" Tim told the teenager.

Abby had been checked out and had a perfect bill of health, not even one scratch. And Zach had gotten the cut on the back of his head cleaned up, stitched, and a bandage put around it, something which he was planning to get rid of as soon as possible. The doctor had ordered him bed rest, and for Tim to wake him up every hour to check on him because of his concussion.

"No, I'm fine here" Zach said determined. He wasn't going to leave his dad in some hospital until he saw with his own eyes that he was alright.

"Zach, come on, it's late, or early, depending on how you look at it, we're all tired. I promise I'll bring you back first thing when you wake up later" Tim said softly, trying to cajole the boy into leaving.

"I'm not leaving, Uncle Tim. You both can go, but I'm not going till I've seen him"

He watched the teenager's jaw tighten and the determination in his eyes, it was an image of his father. That's why Tim gave in, because he knew he would never win a fight with someone who inherited his leader's stubbornness.

"We'll wait then, just until you see your dad." The older man sat back down in the waiting chairs next to the teenager, Abby left telling them she was going to find out what was taking so long.

Tim knew that even if he got the teenager to agree to leave, he would have still had a heck of a job convincing Abby to leave. She had been pacing non-stop, hassling the nurses whenever they came back through the double doors leading to surgery, she was talking a mile a minute and now she had gone to hassle the nurses some more.

A image of his aunty holding the moody nurse that was on reception by the throat, telling her to let her in the room, had Zach chuckling to himself. It wasn't very funny, but because all the tension from before had gone, and because he was so tired, it was pretty humorous for him.

"What's funny?" Tim asked curiously.

"Just thinking… reckon Aunty Abby has gone to give the moody cow a piece of her mind?" The blond's lips turned up.

"Oh god, I hope not" Tim groaned. The last thing he needed at the moment was to be going down to securities office to collect his wife for harassing staff.

Zach laughed at that. It seemed by his uncle's reaction that it would definitely be a thing Abby would do.

The minutes, and the blond tried to find a comfortable place to rest his head, and ended up with it on his uncle's shoulder because that was the best place. He didn't seem to mind anyway.

"Do you think my dad is going to be mad with me?" The teen spoke all of a sudden, surprising the agent because he thought he had fallen asleep.

"For coming to LA, and running circles around your grandpa? Or jumping in front of that gun?" Tim smiled softly.

"Who told you about the gun… Abby did didn't she. I was thinking about the first thing you said. On a scale of one to five, how angry was he when he saw me outside LAX?"

"A six." Tim replied, not missing a beat. "And I think your grandpa is way angry with you too, so was Vance, and I think Ducky might be annoyed too."

"Ducky? What did I do to him?" Zach groaned, was there anyone who wasn't angry with him?

"When you disappeared the first time, he was out looking for you in DC for hours. Don't worry, you are not the only one in trouble. Sarah and Jayden are too when we get back." Tim patted him on the knee, getting him to look up at the double doors that they were bring a drugged up and sleeping Gibbs back through.

"That makes me feel so much better" The teen said sarcastically, before looking and running over to the side of the bed, along with Abby who had gotten word of the nurse that the operation was over and had rushed back.

"Your dad is fine Mr Gibbs." The doctor told him "The bullet only hit flesh. He's just sleeping off the anaesthetic and he will have some anti-biotic to take to stop infection. He'll be good as new before you know it"

Zach looked down at the bed, seeing his dad had an IV in his left arm, and his right shoulder was bandaged up with a sling on his arm. He looked peaceful, and even when he was sleeping the man still held an authority around him.

They followed Gibbs to his room, which Tim suspected would be empty the second the man woke up. And Zach sat on one side of the bed, while Abby sat on the other. The young agent signalled for his wife to get up, so they could give the son a bit of privacy with his father.

Zach was grateful, watching as they shut the door behind them, and he took his dad's good hand in his. He was transfixed on the bandage covering where the bullet hit, that he didn't see his dad open his eyes until he felt his hand being gently squeezed.

"Dad!" He shouted excitedly, reminding Gibbs of a young Kelly shouting for him on the rare occasion he picked her up from school.

"Shhh…" Gibbs smiled.

"Sorry" The blond mouthed sheepishly.

Gibbs shuffled over on the bed, making room and patting it with his hand "Come here bud, you look exhausted"

It had to be around four in the morning; it was no surprise that he looked tired. But he didn't waste anytime climbing on the bed and letting his dad wrap a protective arm around him, both of them lying back and looking at the ceiling.

"Thanks son" Gibbs said softly.

"What for?" Zach frowned confused.

"For saving my life." He told him. "I'm so proud of you, you know? Even if you did disobey what I said earlier, but if you hadn't acted, who knows where we all would have been."

The teen swelled with pride. This was the best moment of his life so far he decided. "Does that mean you're not angry with me then?"

Gibbs snorted at that. "Nice try. I'm still furious with you, but it can wait. I just wanted you to know how proud I am of you. McGee wouldn't have even known where to look if it wasn't for your quick thinking about hiding the phone. And you never backed down to Petrov. If you still want to be an agent, I'll help you get on track to do that"

"Really?" Zach smiled; trying to sit up to get a look at his dad, but the man kept him laying down.

"Yep. As long as you bring home good grades, and behave yourself, I'll get you an internship on my team" He promised him.

The teen yawned "Can I get a gun?"

"Not a chance. Go to sleep son, we're going to have to be up in a few hours" Gibbs shut his eyes, wondering why he mentioned the offer when he wanted his son to go to sleep. It was a bad move by him.

"Kay, love you dad, you're the best"

"Love you too bud"

The anaesthetic was still in Gibbs body, it was only because he was so stubborn that he had managed to wake up before, but he soon fell back to sleep, his son's breathing evening out not long after. It had been a long day for him, for both of them, and they need some shut eye.

"Aww.. Look at them" Abby squeal whispered to Tim when they came back into the room to collect the teen, a feat impossible if you weren't Abby.

"Abs… Abby! What are you doing?" He whispered panicky, when he saw his wife taking pictures of a sleeping Gibbs.

"I'm sending a picture to Jack… and Ziva. They're too cute together"

"Yea, but lets just get out of here before Gibbs wakes up and kills you!" Tim scrawled a note and left it on the bedside table for Gibbs to find when he woke up later.

"Relax Timmy, Gibbs would never hurt me" She quickly left the room though, clearly she didn't trust her statement too well when she was sending pictures of Gibbs asleep around.

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><p><em><strong>AN: Thanks for your reviews. **_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Wednesday Morning **_

Gibbs woke up to the feeling of eyes on him.

"You usually watch people sleep?" He sat up, being careful to not wake up his sleeping son besides him. He would be surprised if anything could wake up Zach once he was down for the count though, he certainly had trouble on school morning.

"Nope, just got here, thought you might want to watch us take down Petrov from headquarters." Callen shrugged, leaning back into the chair casually.

Gibbs nodded, swinging his legs over the bed and preparing to get up "You brought any clothes with you?"

"Yep, right here" Callen picked up the bag that was on the floor next to him, holding it out for Gibbs to take "There's some clothes in here for Zach too, Hetty gave them to him because she said she wouldn't have him coming into her building looking like a homeless puppy"

The silver haired man chuckled at that, looking at the boy he could easily see her comparison. He was covered head to toe in dirt and dust , his blond hair that was usually so carefully styled looked more like a birds nest and he had a bandage on his head giving him a hurt little boy look.

"I'll go get you a coffee from the Starbucks. I'll be back in twenty." The dark blond agent dismissed himself.

Gibbs went into the bathroom that was joined to the room, taking the duffel bag with him and routing around for his clothes. Whoever had packed it had been thoughtful enough to include a wash kit, and the Silver-haired man neatened himself up with a shave and a quick shower, minding to not get the sling and bandages on his shoulder wet.

He got redressed again with some effort, opting to just where his polo shirt in the hot LA sun because it was too much effort to put his jacket on. He was soon at his son's side, shaking him awake.

"Uh…. Dad…. Too early" Zach moaned, spreading out onto the bed now he knew his dad wasn't in it anymore.

"It's nine in the morning, that's a lie in." Gibbs pulled back the covers and ruffled the blond hair.

"mmmpphhh…" That roughly translated to 'If that's a lie in, I'm the bloody Pope', Gibbs didn't understand a word of it though and he simply caught his sons hands in his one strong one when he tried to pull the covers back over himself.

"Unless you want me to give you a prequel of what we are going to be talking about in the near future, I suggest you get out of bed now." Gibbs warned.

Zach reluctantly rose, fisting his eyes with his hands and yawning loudly. He knew not to mess with his dad when he was using that tone of voice, he may not have always listened to what he knew though, but this time he was because he was already in so much trouble.

"Good, here's some clothes, go get changed." He gave him a gentle nudge to the bathroom "And take a shower too, you stink"

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><p>Callen had dropped the father and son off at the diner just around the corner, and now Gibbs was looking on in a grimace as his son drowned his chocolate pancakes in syrup, and added several heaps of sugar to his coffee.<p>

"Zach…" Gibbs groaned.

"What?" The boy looked up, oblivious to what his dad was moaning about.

"You're going to rot your teeth if you carry on like that" And he didn't want to be dealing with a hyper-active teenager, he was bad enough before he had too much sugar and caffeine.

Zach shook his head, pouting slightly when the man pulled the sugar away from him before he managed to add more to his coffee. The teenager was about to protest, but his dad raising his eyebrows at him telling him not to push his luck, stopped him.

Gibbs suddenly spotted the sunglasses that were placed on the diner table while they ate, he didn't remember Hetty giving him them and he had never seen his son with them before.

"Are those sunglasses new?" Gibbs asked suspiciously, picking up them up to inspect.

"Yea, Calvin Klein, nice aren't they?" The blond didn't even think about what he was saying, he just kept wolfing down the pancakes like a starved man.

"Designer huh? I bet they were expensive" Gibbs placed them down and took a sip of his coffee, all while watching his son's face carefully for any trace of a lie.

"Weren't that expensive" Zach had realised just to what his dad was getting at, and desperately tried to keep him from finding out how much they had cost.

"How much?"

"For Calvin Klein they were really cheap, and they were half price. So technically I reallysaved money." Suddenly he didn't feel so hungry, and he was just pushing the pancakes through the thick syrup.

"How much did you _save?"_ Gibbs asked sarcastically, bracing himself for the answer he knew he didn't want to hear.

"Uh… two-hundred and fifty dollars" He said quietly, waiting for the man to explode.

"Two-hundred and fifty dollars!" Gibbs had to keep himself from yelling out in the diner.

Zach nodded; his dad's angry tone enough to make him shrink in his chair. He had gone from being proud, to annoyed and angry, and the teenager hated it.

"I'll take them back." He tried to appease him.

"Damn right you will. Where did you get the money from? You better hadn't have done what I think you have" Gibbs glared at him.

"Depends…" Zach shrugged, trying to pick his words carefully, but inwardly wincing when he sounded cocky "On what you think I have done."

"Now isn't the time to be cheeky Zacharriah. You don't know how close I am to dragging you to the hotel to whip your ass for you" Gibbs' eyes narrowed.

"I didn't mean to sound …. I'm sorry." He sighed. "I took my card with the money grandpa gave me from your room"

"That money is for collage, and who gave you permission to snoop around my bedroom anyway?" His son knew that his bedroom was off limits unless he was in there. He had a rifle and cartridges stashed under his bed that he did not want him coming across; it would only put ideas into his head. Along with a Christmas present in his closet, and a few other items he didn't want his son getting his hands on.

"I'm sorry dad…" He said pitifully, feeling sorrier for himself rather than his actions and embarrassed that his dad was telling him off in a middle of a diner. Luckily it was busy enough that no one could really hear them.

"Believe me boy, you will be. Just wait till I get you back home…" Gibbs said darkly, letting his threat go unfinished, satisfied with himself when the boy was visibly squirming. _It's the least he deserves after the week he put his grandfather and me through. _

Zach didn't say anything. His stomach was in knots over the thought of what was going to happen when he got home. He was feeling incredibly childish for running off, and he knew it was wrong to have done what he had this week, but since it lead to his dad saying he was proud, he would gladly do it all again just to hear those few words.

Gibbs seemed to notice this, and he knew he would have to nip it in the bud as soon as possible. He would have to talk to the boy once they got back home, but for now he still needed to finish up in Los Angeles.

"Listen to me…" The Marine said "I have booked us a flight home for tonight, and we will deal with everything that has gone on this week at home. But between now and then, you are going to stay within my sight at all times, and you are going to behave, otherwise you are going to deeply regret it. Got it?"

Zach nodded. He would stick to the man like glue, otherwise he knew he would make his punishment so much worse that it already was.

"A verbal answer son" Gibbs barked out.

If Zach wasn't in so much trouble, he would have liked to point out here that his dad knew sign language so it wouldn't be hard for him to figure out what a nod of a head meant. But thankfully, for once in his life, his brain worked before his mouth did.

"Yes dad. I got it."

"Good"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thursday Morning <strong>_

Wednesday had seemed to fly by for Zach, even if it was extremely boring being his dad's shadow for the day. But he didn't want to come home and face his dad's consequences, or his grandpa's, and he guessed that was why the time had gone so quick.

His two new self appointed Uncles, G and Sam, had told him they would both be up in DC in a few months time on business and they would pop round and see him. They had also told him to come back to LA sometime, and they would take him around, but warned him he had better have permission of his dad next time. They hadn't had the chance to talk all that much, but the two men found the boy entertaining and funny, while Zach thought them to be really cool.

Hetty had warned him to keep out of trouble, all while giving Gibbs the name, address and phone number of a top boarding school for troublesome boys, telling him that she would pull a few strings to get Zach in there on a scholarship so he didn't have to pay the fees if he so much desired. Gibbs politely took it, mentioning he would look into it if Zach carried on the way he was going, and he was pleased to note that the teenager straightened up at the empty threat. Perhaps he could use it to his advantage in the future he mused.

Now the teenager, the forensic scientist and the two Special Agents were walking up the garden path to Jack's house, after the long flight home, planning to see their children and younger sister before they left for school and all of them planning to speak with the elderly man about the week that had just been.

"I… uh… can I go home and meet you there dad?" Zach stopped on the porch right in front of the door, unwilling to go in.

"No, now move it." Gibbs barked from behind him.

Zach sighed, still not moving. Well not until he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder, and his Uncle Tim whispering in his ear softly "Hey, don't worry about it Zach. He's not going to kill you"

The teen turned around, grateful when his Uncle and Aunt gave him an encouraging smile, even if his dad was scowling behind them. But it gave him the courage to open the door and make his way into the kitchen where the elderly man, teenage girl and two children sat eating their breakfast.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Kate squealed, running over to her parents to give them a hug.

"Hi sweetheart" Tim picked her up on his hip "I heard you've been really good this week huh?"

The three miscreants all heard the silent 'unlike everyone else', Sarah and Jayden kept their concentration on their breakfast, clearly not as excited as Kate to see the return of Tim and Abby.

"Hello Zacharriah, Did you enjoy your vacation?" Jack said steely; he was far from impressed with his grandson.

"I… uh… Hi Grandpa" He smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck before spotting a plate of pancakes on the middle of the table. "So pancakes for breakfast huh? Great I love pancakes"

He sat himself down on the chair, and reached his hand out to grab one, only to withdraw it again when it was swatted away. He gave his grandpa a pout and a questioning glance.

"Naughty boys don't get pancakes" Jack told him sternly.

"Aww but Grandpa, I'm starving!" The blond whined. He was extremely tired after the long night flight, and he was hungry, a combination that was never good for him mood.

Gibbs interrupted them both by shoving an apple and banana from the fruit bowl at his son, and giving the boy a warning glare that screamed at the blond to shut up and keep quiet unless he was spoken directly to.

The only sound that could be heard in the kitchen was Kate babbling on to her parents about her week. Everyone else were in awkward silence, the adults too pissed to speak and the children too scared to speak in case they were rounded on.

Instead they watched as Gibbs made himself a coffee with one arm took a calming sip of his brew and turned around to face them, leaning on the side.

"You three, on your feet and in a line" The Marine barked at them, and they all rushed to comply.

They stood in an orderly line in front of the man, oddly feeling that they were in the Corps. Zach and Sarah had a good idea what was coming next, and it was all they could to stop from groaning as Gibbs spoke.

"Tim, Abby and I have already talked about this, and we've decided that a little Marine exercise is in order to help curb your lies. I want all of you ready at 600 hours on Saturday morning, do I make myself clear?" He looked at each of them, waiting for one to protest.

"Clear" They all chorused, the teenagers inwardly wincing. They knew it would hardly be a _little _Marine exercise, they most likely would be feeling it in their muscles for days to come.

"Right, Jayden, Sarah, go to school." Gibbs waited for them to leave; giving his granddaughter a friendly hug before the three McGee's were taken to school by Tim and Abby.

Zach looked longingly at their retreating backs. He so wished he was going to school right now instead of staying here with two very annoyed Gibbs'. Life sure sucked right now.

"Zacharriah, I want your nose in the corner while me and your grandfather talk." Gibbs pointed to the only spare corner in the kitchen. He knew it was best to keep an eye on Zach; otherwise he would not do what he was told.

The teenager looked like he wanted to protest, but he gave it a second thought and sighed, making his way over to the corner and resting his head on the wall. What was he supposed to do while he was here? Was he supposed to think or was he just supposed to get so incredibly bored that it substituted as punishment, he didn't know.

"So dad, do you want to deal with Zacharriah first or should I?" Gibbs said, clicking his fingers and doing a twirling motion with his finger when his son turned around.

"I will if you don't mind Jethro. I can have him home to you by lunch time" Jack replied, talking about it like it was the weather.

"That's fine by me." Gibbs rose from his seat, saying goodbye to the elderly man and giving his son a gentle pat on the shoulder as he passed and he too walked out the front door.

Zach shuffled his feet nervously, wanting so badly to turn around when he felt his grandpa's gaze burning into the back of his head.

He didn't know how long he stayed where he was, but when the time came to be move, he suddenly found that he would much sooner stay in the corner than have to deal with the irritated man.

"Zacharriah, come and sit down here please"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Thank you for your reviews, I'm honestly flattered. Sorry I took such a long time to update this, but I wasnt sure what direction I was going to take it. I write out the chapter like 10 different ways, but now I've gone with this version. I hope its okay. I'm planning to bring Callen and Sam back into another story, but I really need to watch more NCIS: LA first. **_


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: Thank you for all the lovely comments, I really appreiciate them. I updated earlier this time too :) **___

**_How the hell is exercise abuse? Exercise is very good for you. My class have done lots of exercises like running up and down the pitch, marching (One of our teachers is an ex Army man). I've done it in cadets too, where we had to do some of the basic training because we managed to piss off a couple of officers really bad. I was about fourteen, and we were made to do a course for most of the afternoon and evening. Iv'e done loads of stuff like that, and i can honestly say exercise is not bad for you. Yeah it hurts like hell when your getting pushed over your limit, but once you done it and when you are with your mates it is a laugh. There is absoultley nothing abusive about exercise unless it is taking too far into the extreems. _**

**_Sorry about my rant for everyone else. _**

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><p><em><strong>Thursday Morning <strong>_

Zach nervously went over to the kitchen table, sitting down opposite his grandpa. He fidgeted with the hem of his shorts, unable to look up at his grandpa's face for fear of seeing the anger in the usually so kind face.

"Zacharriah…" Jack begun, reaching over to tap in on the chin to look up "I honestly thought that you liked staying here, I didn't think it was because you knew you could get away with things."

The blond swallowed guilty at that. He had to avert his eyes after seeing the hurt that was so plainly written on his face. How could he have behaved so badly that it made his grandpa doubt whether Zach liked staying with him.

"I… I don't think that Grandpa."

"Oh yea, and how can I believe that when you have done nothing but lie to me all week?" Jack glared at him.

The teen grimaced, biting his lip nervously when he lied again.

"I lied to you about the concert, and that's it." That was the only lie he thought the man knew about.

"There you go again; you know if you were your father right now, I'd be washing your mouth out with soap for lying." He warned him.

"Uh..." Zach was shocked that he knew he was lying, maybe he found out about the whole thing with the school, and he certainly didn't want to carry on lying now he knew the man had come to his limit.

"Sarah came clean about everything because she didn't want you to be in trouble." Jack told him "And I'm not angry about what you did, I would have even let you go to the concert if you just asked me"

"You would have?" He raised his head to look at him.

The blond felt slightly stupid now, he wouldn't even have been in trouble for that if he had just asked in the first place. But his hopes were raised because his Grandpa wasn't angry; maybe this meant he could get out of this relatively unscathed.

"Yes, I would. You're just a boy Zach; you deserve to have fun sometimes. But the fact is you lied to me, and I'm really disappointed in you for that." Jack scolded.

"Oh…" His head fell back down, the disappointment was so much worse than the anger.

"And on top of that, you ran away. I can't even tell you what was running through my mind when you disappeared like that. I thought you would turn up after a bit, but when you didn't I begun to worry something bad had happened to you. Never do that to me again Zacharriah, I'm an old man and I don't think my heart could take it" He made sure the emotion was clear in his voice, all the worry he had felt when Zach had gone missing for over a few hours and the fear that something terrible had happened.

"… I'm sorry"

"I know son, but we still have to deal with this. I'm only going to punish you for lying to me, not for running off because I know your dad will be doing the honours." Jack stood up, motioning for Zach to follow "I want you to go wait in the living room"

* * *

><p>"Tim, Abby, we are both so sorry for taking advantage of Grandpa Jack" Sarah said meekly from the backseat on behalf of her and her nephew.<p>

"We know." Tim replied, keeping his eyes on the road "That's why you're both grounded for a week as well as your day out with Gibbs, instead of me adding to what Grandpa Jack already gave you"

Both of them gave a sigh of relief at that, they both knew it could have been so much worse for them. But it did not mean they were looking forward for the Marine exercises from their personal drill sergeant.

"Thank you Tim. I swear we won't do it again, we both already feel guilty about treating him like that and about letting Zach take the fall" The brunette said.

"Yeah" Jayden nodded in agreement.

"You both can both apologize to Grandpa if you haven't already, and Jayden, you need to make it up to Zach for getting him excluded."

"I will dad." He fully intended to make it up to Zach anyway, he didn't need to be told that.

The car was in comfortable silence for a short while, Kate had already been dropped off at school so that could be the reason why. But Sarah was the one to break it, speaking to her sister-in-law directly.

"That picture you took of Uncle Gibbs and Zach was very cute, Abby. Uncle Gibbs is going to flip when he finds out that Grandpa Jack has gotten some of them framed. I reckon you should really go into hiding."

"See…" Tim said to Abby playfully "I told you Gibbs would kill you"

"As if Timmy. It's cute. Gibbs will love it, you know he's gotten softer now Zach's around." Abby knew for a fact Gibbs would not do anything about it.

"He hasn't gone that soft."

* * *

><p>Zach waited impatiently on the sofa, his leg bouncing up and down as he tried to keep his mind from thinking about what he knew was about to happen.<p>

But that was a pointless effort when Jackson returned, and the teen's eyes zoomed in on the wooden paddle in his hand. For a second he had thought it was a switch, so he was incredibly relieved when he saw it wasn't.

"I thought I might be needing this sometime, so I made sure to bring it down from Still Water" Jack smiled wryly.

"Guess I didn't really disappoint you then if you already thought that of me" Zach said before he had a chance to think.

It was definitely the wrong thing to say. Jack's scowl was back on his face, and his grip tightened on the paddle.

"You are too much like your father, Zacharriah. He used to be exactly like you, had an answer for everything and trouble followed him around. That's why I had him make this paddle; it always seemed to work on him."

The man was gritting his teeth in annoyance. He remembered telling Jethro when he was younger that one day he would have a son that was exactly like him, and he would find out exactly what it felt like to be on the other end. It seemed slightly ironic that Jack was on the receiving end of his grandson's cheekiness too. He reckoned a teenage Jethro would be laughing his ass off right now.

"Dad made that?" His eyes widened and he was looking closer at the object in the man's hand.

Zach was in odd awe of the wood. This was the _actual _paddle that had been used on The Leroy Jethro Gibbs; this was the stuff of legends. He had to show Tony when he got back, he would love it.

"And it's been used on him more times than I can remember." Jack nodded. "Now you have the honours. Jeans down and bend over the sofa"

The teenager found himself standing up and unbuckling his belt before shakily bending over the back of the sofa. Usually he would never be so willing, but in front of _The _paddle, he felt he had to man up and take it like he imaged his dad would have.

He felt that idea quickly start to slip from his mind though when the paddle was applied solidly to his short-clad backside. He didn't manage to last long before he was sobbing into a cushion on the sofa and begging for his grandpa to stop.

"Grandpa… I.. I'm Sorry… I won't … lie to you … ever! Please!" He felt the hardest swat of all, before it finally stopped and he felt a hand rubbing circles onto his back.

"Shh… it's over son… shh…" Jack helped him up, getting him to pull his jeans up and leading him over to the sofa to sit down next to him. Zach was sobbing into his shoulder while he was still gently rubbing his back.

"Dad's going to kill me" The teen sobbed harder, showing no sign he was going to stop crying anytime soon.

Jack was sure it was because of the fact reality was coming crashing back around him, rather than the severity of the punishment he had just doled out. After a few days of no consequences he hadn't bothered to think about his actions, but now that he did have consequences, he was really starting to regret what he done and how he had managed to upset his dad and grandpa.

"No he won't. He'll be annoyed, yes. And he will definitely blister your backside. But once it's over it's over, and you get a clean slate. Just like you with me now." The white-haired man comforted him,

"I always screw up though. He must be fed up with me by now; I just can't ever seem to stay out of trouble for more than two weeks." He had stopped crying now but he hadn't moved an inch from Jack's side.

"Trust me, if that was true, I would have given Leroy up for adoption the second he hit puberty." Jack chuckled "But I never got fed up of him because I love him, just like he loves you. You and he are so much alike when your dad, he couldn't possibly get fed up of you"

"Was dad as bad as me then?"

"You are not bad" Jack was mildly stern telling him that. "You are just a bit naughty sometimes, just like Leroy was."

"What did he use to do?" The teenager was planning to use this as ammunition for his defence in the future, and also to laugh at his dad's expense.

"Tons of stuff, I couldn't even look the other way or he would be up to his neck in mischief. You name anything, and I bet I caught him doing it. Drinking, smoking, fighting, gambling, getting arrested, joy-riding, honestly mention anything to me and I can tell you a story on it with Leroy"

There were some stories that Jackson would keep to himself however, because he understood that some things it wasn't fair to tell. Like smoking cannabis, because he knew Jethro would not want the boy to know, and also he didn't want to give Zach the impression his father was that bad considering the boy still had hero worship for his dad.

"He went joy-riding?" The teen so wanted to hear this story.

"Yea a few times. The first time he was fifteen and he had a fight with one of the local boys who was the Sheriff's son, the Sheriff broke them up of course and blamed Leroy for most of the fight. Leroy, being the bad tempered person he was, decided to get back at the Sheriff by taking his car for a ride."

"No way!" Zach pulled away from his grandpa to get a look at his face to make sure he wasn't having him on. "He took a cop's car?"

Jack nodded "He was driving around for ages with lights flashing and the sirens on. He was driving around the block, throwing the Sheriffs belongings out the window, while the Winslow tried to chase him down. Winslow was a jerk and I would have been laughing with everyone else who was watching if I wasn't so angry"

Zach was laughing, he was howling at the image of a teenage Jethro driving a stolen cop car while a fat sheriff tried to chase him down. "I… have to… tell Tony this"

They Grandson and Grandfather stayed there until noon, Zach listening to all the stories his grandpa had to tell about his dad. He had learnt so much in the last hour about the man, he couldn't wait to tease him when they were back on good terms with each other. He suspected that the man would get him back easily though.

Jack had fed the teenager, telling him to come around for food whenever he wanted because microwave meals and takeaways were not good for a growing boy, before he sent the boy on his way.

"Can't I just stay here Gramps?" He groaned, but headed towards the front door anyway.

"No sonny, don't worry about it too much. I'll come round later and make sure you are still in one piece." He pulled him in for a hug.

"Thanks."

"Just do me a favour…" Jack smirked now, thinking back to the many threats he had said to Jethro growing up "Tell Jethro that you are the son that I always promised him he would have"

Zach frowned confused at that, but said he would do just that. And he slowly made his way down the street, gulping slightly when he came face to face with his front door. He took one deep breathe, before entering the dragons lair.


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: Thanks again, and I was much quicker this time with the update. I wasnt going to post this, but I'm in such a good mood I had the time and temper to do this. **_

_**Just got to say, even though this is nothing to do with the story at all, Cymru Am Byth. Wales have played amazing rugby all through the six nations, and definitely deserved the GrandSlam. **__**Bit of a shame that Ireland got beat by the English. It would have been nice for them to win on St Patricks day. Anyway, It is going to be an amazing night out in Cardiff tonight! I cannot wait. I prob won't post now for a few days. **_

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><p><em><strong>Thursday Afternoon <strong>_

Gibbs watched from his seat on the dining room table as his son slipped into the house, and tried to quietly walk up the stairs with his bag, only to stop and freeze like a deer in the headlights when he caught sight of his dad glaring at him.

"… Hi dad… I'm just… just going to put my bag upstairs" Zach said.

"Come right back down here then afterwards" He told him, watching him dash up the stairs.

He didn't have to wait long for the teenager to come back down and was wriggling noticeably on the chair opposite him. _It seems that Grandpa left an impression _Gibbs thought _Good, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on him. _Gibbs had full intention to make this a lesson that Zach learnt.

The Marine didn't speak; instead he stared at his sons face waiting for him to do the talking. He watched as the blue eyes darted around the room, trying to look at anything but him, in the end his gaze stopped on Gibbs' injured arm.

"You know dad…" He begun carefully "You really shouldn't be sp… you know… when you're arm is like that."

"I still have another arm" He stated.

"Yeah… you do.." The teen looked at his other arm, licking his lips nervously, before trying again "… But what if you like hurt your hand or something, you won't have any arms then."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at the blond. Deciding his son wasn't taking this seriously enough, he reached down with his hand, unbuckling his belt, pulling it through the hoops and letting it lay on the table between them.

"If I were you Zacharriah, I'd be more concerned about your backside" He warned.

Zach kept completely quiet now, staring at the belt that lay on the table. He wondered if he should get his dad a new belt for Christmas, one that wasn't leather and wouldn't hurt half as much. Maybe he could get him one of those scarf belts that hippies wear.

"Talk me through your week son, I want to know exactly what you did and why you did it" He prompted him when it looked like he wasn't going to speak.

"Uh… I… um…" Zach didn't know where he should start.

"Look at me when you're speaking. And how about your start from the very beginning, when you went to that David Gateau's concert"

"David Guetta." He corrected with out thinking. "And, yea…" He paused for a minute, but soon remembered that his Grandpa had known that he was covering for Sarah and Jayden, his dad would definitely know.

"Sarah thought it would be fun to go, and I told he Grandpa would go mad, but she said he wouldn't, and I really wanted to go too, so I told Grandpa that I was taking Sarah on a date, and then we… we lied when we came back late"

"Why didn't you just tell Sarah no? You knew you would both get in big trouble." Gibbs wondered.

"… I dunno" He shrugged.

"That answer is not going to cut it. You know exactly why and I want you to tell me."

Zach sighed "You know what Sarah's like, she's usually the one who's telling me to not do things and she tries to not get involved. This was her idea, and I …" He didn't think it a good idea to tell his dad that it was a turn on when Sarah was breaking rules "… I wanted to go anyway. And I didn't think we would get caught"

"So there wasn't really a good reason was there? You just thought you were too good to listen to my rules, yet again" Gibbs said sternly.

Zach was about to argue, but thought better of it when his eyes caught the belt and his backside was already stinging from a round with Jack. "No sir."

Gibbs was impressed that his son was holding his tongue. That was completely unlike the cocky child. Then he saw him squirm and look at the belt and realised that it was probably only because he didn't want anymore than necessary. But it was still a big improvement for him.

"Alright, what about skipping school?"

"Uh… Jay told me he was going to skip to meet some girl from Maryland that he met of the internet. I wasn't about to let him go on his own, that girl could have been anyone. And Jay was planning to go to the museum and spend the day there" Zach rolled his eyes "I wasn't about to skive to go to a museum! So I got everyone else in and we went to the zoo."

"Getting excluded?" His raised his eyebrows at that one.

"Jay hacked the registers. But he's got a good school record, and you know mines far from great. I wasn't about to let him take the fall, so I said it was me. I'm sorry I had to lie to do it, but it was the only way, and if I had to I would do it again" Zach said stubbornly, nothing would sway him from that line of thought.

"You should have told Jayden not to do it in the first place. I'm proud that you looked after your cousin, don't get me wrong, but I am not happy that you skipped in the first place. I know that getting excluded wasn't your fault, but if you had been in school in the first place none of this would have happened" He explained, wanting his son to know that he was not getting punished for protecting his cousin.

"I know. I guess I just thought because I'd gotten away with the concert I could do it again" He sighed.

Gibbs nodded, accepting that answer "And running away?"

The teen put his head down, ashamed of himself for this one. He had run away from punishment, like a child, and he had managed to indirectly get his dad shot because he had gotten involved with the Russian Mafia.

The Agent reached over when he heard his son mumble something, tilting the teen's chin upwards and seeing the faint blush on his cheek.

"I can't understand you if you mumble, Zacharriah."

Zach ran a hand through his hair, scratching at the top of the bandage on his head.

"Grandpa said he was going to switch me. I sort of … panicked and ran. Before I knew it I was calling a taxi to the airport" His ears were burning brightly now.

"You know that that is not acceptable behaviour ever, right? I swear if you ever do that to me or your grandpa again, Iwill spank you every day for a week." He threatened him, wanting to make sure that it would never happened again.

"I'm sorry. I won't ever do it again" The fact that he had gotten them kidnapped was a big factor in his reluctance to run off again.

"I know that it wasn't your whole fault with Petrov, you can't help what he did and you knew nothing about it. I don't think I have to tell you what would have happened if Callen wasn't there do I?" Gibbs said seriously, trying to get his son to understand the danger he had put himself in.

Zach shook his head. If it wasn't Callen, and an actual mobster, his chances of survival were very low. Even if the worst didn't happen, none of his family would have the slightest idea where he was. It was not something he liked thinking too much about.

"I won't punish you for something that was out of your control, but Zach, you really need to start thinking about the situations you put yourself into. One day I won't be there to save you."

"… Sorry" He mumbled shamefully.

"I'm glad, but I'd prefer it instead of you being sorry, you never got yourself into these messes in the first place." The silver-haired man slowly pushed his chair back from the table and stood up to glare down at his son.

"You are going to have extra chores for a long time to pay back your collage fund. You are going to go apologize to Director Vance for your rudeness to him. And you will apologize to Ducky, Jimmy, Ashlee and anyone else who was out searching for you." He picked up the belt from the table, leaving it lax in his hand.

"Yes Dad." Zach nodded, deciding not to move an inch of his seat. For the first time since he had sat down, he wasn't moving a muscle.

"Pants and shorts down, and over the table son" Gibbs folded the belt in half, making sure the buckle was in his hand.

Zach rose from his seat, gulping as he looked at the belt, but slowly did what he was told to do. His pushed his jeans to his knees, looking back at his dad in a question, but the man just gave him a pointed look and he sighed, pulling his shorts down too and leaning over the table.

"Son, this is for lying and running away." He pushed him down so his chest and cheek were pressing against the table, knowing that if he was standing up he most likely wouldn't stay still and it would have just made it more difficult on him. Gibbs couldn't even give him a reassuring hand; he just had to hope his son would take it like a man.

He winced with sympathy when he saw the already red backside, but he knew from experience that Jackson usually went a lot harder than that. Maybe the man had gone soft, or probably just had a softer spot for his grandson than he did his son.

Gibbs tried to not let it get to him as he heard his son hiss through his teeth from the first sharp crack of the belt. He wanted his son to learn a lesson though, who knew what could happen next time he decided he would run off. That thought made him keep swinging the belt, making sure he covered every inch of the boy's backside.

After the tenth crack of the belt, Zach had was sobbing, his head in one of his arms as he brought the other one around to cover himself.

"Dad… I'm s.. s.. sorry"

"I know son, I know. Move your hand" Gibbs was grateful when the boy did what he was told, and brought the belt down two more times, before throwing it on the seat and moving over to the boy.

"Shhh… shh… it's okay… it's over. You're forgiven" He quickly pulled up his son's shorts and jeans, before trying to pull him up into a one armed hug.

The boy spun round, quickly seeking comfort in his father's arms. He was mindful of his wound, and tucked his head into his good shoulder, sobbing openly.

"Zach, it's okay, I've got you now." He held him tight to him, kissing the top of the blond head and waiting for his crying to calm down.

When he did calm down, he stayed in his dad's arms for a few more moments before softly pulling away so he could look the man in the eyes.

"… Are you still going to let me be an intern on your team?" He asked, unsure if the man may have changed his mind now that he wasn't drugged up.

"You know I don't change my mind once I say something Zach." Gibbs told him. "I'll bring some forms home for you to fill out next time I go into the office. And I think you should give your apology to Vance before I mention it to him. You are going to have to prove to him that you will take it seriously."

"I will dad I swear. I really want to do this; I promise you I will do my best." Zach nodded, determined.

"Good, that's all I ask." Gibbs ruffled the blond hair, putting his hand on the back of his neck and pulling his head close enough to kiss the blond head. "I love you Zach, don't you ever forget that. No matter what you have done, I promise you, I will always love you"

"I love you too dad."


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: Thank you everyone for your reviews and everything. This is the last chapter, and I want to apoligize for it being so crap. **__**It's been far too nice weather to write the past week. **_

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><p><em><strong>Friday Morning <strong>_

"I don't want to be an intern anymore" Zach declared suddenly.

The blond haired boy spun round from facing the Director's secretary's office, only to be caught with his dad's strong left arm.

"I'll come in with you. It'll be fine" Gibbs reassured him, before taking the lead and walking straight through the secretary's office without a second glance at her, and barged through Vance's doors. He had never knocked before, and he would be dammed if he was going to start now.

The secretary looked like she was about to protest, but she looked up and saw it was Gibbs and shook her head as if saying 'Him again' and went back to her paperwork.

Zach followed him through, finding himself being gently pushed forward towards Vance's desk, where the dark skinned man sat. Vance looked up from his paper work, glancing at Gibbs once before keeping his eyes on the teenager, all ready having an idea of what he had to say.

"Hey…" He smiled awkwardly, remembering what he rehearsed in his head "I just came to tell you that I'm sorry for being cheeky to you. I was showing off, and that's not very good of me"

"Don't worry about it, I bet your dad dealt with you" Vance gave him a friendly smile, trying to make him relax a bit. He knew there was more he had to say, because he had already talked to Gibbs earlier when Zach had gone down to see Ducky and Jimmy to apologize to them both.

He nodded quickly, trying to resist the urge to rub his backside through his jeans "That's a bet that would have made you rich sir."

Vance chuckled at that. "Where's the sir come from? I'm your friend's father, not your boss, it's just Leon."

"Yeah, that's the thing… I kinda want you to be my boss. I wanted to know if I could intern on my dad's team. I swear I will not screw around or anything. And I won't be cheeky anymore." He asked his heart in his throat about what the answer would be. He wanted to do this so much; he knew he would be devastated if Vance said no.

"That's fine by me Zach…"

"Yes! Thank you so much! I won't let you down I promise" Zach interrupted him excitedly, all his nerves gone now he had been accepted.

"Let me finish." Leon smiled at him "I was going to say that you'd make a great agent from what I heard. But, and this is where I want you to listen closely, I do not usually allow interns so young, I'm only allowing you because you've proved yourself that you are capable of it. This agency is not a play ground, you mess around here, and you'll have me to answer to. I won't care about who your father is."

"Yes sir." Zach nodded as seriously as he could muster while a big grin was on his face.

"Good. I'm giving you a chance here, I don't want you to make me regret it" The Director knew that the teenager could one day become a great agent, just like his father. He didn't want him to ruin his chances because he was goofing around in his teenage years.

"I won't do. Thank you so much"

Gibbs gentle hand came down on his shoulder, and Zach looked up at him. "Zach, go and wait in the bullpen for me."

The blond nodded, giving a smile towards both the men before nearly running out of the office to tell his uncle the good news.

"What made you change your mind about letting Zach be an intern?" Leon questioned.

"I never said he couldn't be" The silver-haired man shrugged.

"I know you Jethro. You don't even like your son thinking about guns and dead bodies, now you are teaching him how to be an agent." Leon wasn't stupid, he knew how over-protective Gibbs was, there must have been something to change his mind.

"He has a real talent for it, and it's what he wants to do. The more I stop him from trying to do it, the further I'll push him away from me and I don't want that." Gibbs wondered why he was being so open "I don't want to become my dad. He made sure I didn't touch his Winchester rifle, which only made me want it more. And I ended up being a Sniper"

Gibbs was terrified of the thought of his son leaving him like he did to his own father. He knew there were a lot of other factors going on with the relationship between him and his dad, but he wouldn't do anything if it meant risking the strong bond he and Zach had.

"He's a good kid. And with you and your agents training him, he will make a fine agent one day." Vance complemented.

* * *

><p>Jayden took a deep breath, looking at the plague on the door in front of him that read '<em>Principle L Jones' <em>and knocked on the wood.

He had been thinking about this ever since he let Zach take the fall, and he knew that both teenagers thought Zach was doing the right thing and it seemed his parents and grandfather did too, even if they all told him it was very wrong that he lied, but Jayden couldn't shake the guilt he felt at it, and he knew this was the only way.

"Come in" A voice called, and the twelve-year-old closed his eyes trying to gather his courage, before pushing into the office.

"Oh, Hello Jayden, what brings you here today?" Principle Jones gave him a friendly smile. He was after all one of his star pupils.

Jayden said something so fast that it wasn't even intelligible. The man simply blinked and asked the boy if he could repeat that.

"I said, that it wasn't Zach who changed the registers, it was me" He swallowed, biting his bottom lip nervously.

The principle sighed, motioned with his arm that Jayden should take a seat. "I didn't think it was Zach anyway, but I'm glad that you've come forward Jayden. It's a hard thing to tell someone you did something wrong, it takes a lot of courage."

The brunet simply nodded, and waited to hear his fate. His parents already knew, so it wasn't like he could get into anymore trouble there, it was only the school he was concerned about.

"Well, since Zach's already been suspended for this, I've got no choice but to suspend you for three days too Jayden. I'll ring up your parents now"

* * *

><p>"Hey! Uncle Tim! Guess what… where are you going?" Zach came bounding down the stairs, running full speed into the bullpen, but frowning slightly in wonder when his uncle was putting on his coat and holstering his weapon.<p>

"To pick up Jayden, he confessed for you so you are off the hook with the school now." Tim gave him a smile and Zach guessed that that news was supposed to make him happy.

It didn't though; it made him angry with his cousin "What the hell did he do that for? Is he stupid? I told him I was fine with it, it's not like its going to affect me"

"No, he's not stupid; he's doing the right thing." Tim told his nephew "And it will affect you. When you are applying for collage, you'll be glad Jayden didn't let you take the blame, believe me"

"Whatever" Zach rolled his eyes, not quite believing him. He was annoyed with his cousin for telling, it was pointless he had already took the suspension and now his cousin would have too. Jayden was like his younger brother, he only wanted to protect him, so having him push that protection away felt like a slap to the face.

"Zach, I know what your thinking and Jayden just wants to protect you just as much as you do him. He doesn't want to hurt you, he's just doing the right thing" The agent gave him a pat on the shoulder; he knew what it was like to be the big brother after all.

"Yeah, I know…" The blond sighed. "Tell him I said hi"

_**Saturday Night**_

Gibbs gently placed the blanket over his son sleeping on the sofa, leaning down to kiss his forehead. He would have carried him up to bed if he had two arms, or at least helped him up the stairs. But after the week of trouble he had had with the boy, it was nice to see him looking so sweet and innocent.

He rose to his feet, cricking his neck, when a frame on the mantle piece that he had never seen before caught his eye. He made his way over, smiling when he saw the picture of him and his son sleeping in the hospital bed.

"Dad…" Gibbs shook his head, still smiling, wondering who else his forensic scientist had sent that picture too. Not that he minded, he just hoped Dinozzo didn't get his hands on one, or Fornell for that matter. Tony he could deal with a glare, but Tobias would annoy the heck out of him.

"I see you tuckered the lad out." Jack's voice came behind him, and Gibbs whirled around. Not that he would admit to it, but Jack still had the skills to sneak up on him. He was possibly the only person alive that could.

"He tired himself out, going on about the internship." Gibbs shrugged with one shoulder, moving to sit at the kitchen table while his dad went and poured them a cup of tea each.

"I guess he'll tell me when I see him next" The elderly man was sure his grandson would tell him very enthusiastically about it. "And I meant with your Marine exercises."

Gibbs knew he had meant that. "He didn't even have to do them, I let him off because Sarah and Jayden took the full blame, and I already punished him. But, you know Zach, he wasn't about to let his girlfriend and cousin job through mud while he watched."

The girl and pre-teen had told Gibbs everything about Zach when the teenager had gone to the toilet before they started. They knew he would stop them and rile up his dad if he was there when they told about how he was trying to protect them all week. They both wanted Zach's punishment to be lifted, so Gibbs had done that. But Zach had refused, claiming he was to be blamed to, so he didn't have to leave the other two on their own.

Jack smiled, a twinkle in his eyes as he looked over to the teenager. "He's a good boy, reminds me…"

"So much of me, I know, you've said so many times" Gibbs smirked.

"I know where Zach gets being a cocky brat from, that's for sure" He joked.

The silver haired man rolled his eyes. "Oh yea, what was it that grandpa used to say to me? _You're exactly like Jackson, Leroy. _Really, he gets it from you"

"Hey! At least I don't go around encouraging him to wind you up like your grandfather did to me." It had been a long long time since the two of them had bantered like this, and Jack loved it.

Gibbs laughed "Zach doesn't need encouraging, I could lock him in an empty room and he could find trouble"

Jack laughed with him. "That's true. He sure is a trouble magnet that boy."


End file.
